Review | The Mekong is mighty no more: demise of the great river system lamented in Brian Eyler’s new book
- Author sounds a stark warning about the impact dams are having along the once-mighty river
- The Last Days of the Mighty Mekong cites the failures of both Western and Asian agencies, and calls for solutions to stem the damage before it is too late
The Last Days of the Mighty Mekong
by Brian Eyler
Zed Books
The mystique of the Mekong River has long enchanted explorers, motivated traders and beguiled travellers. Its biodiversity – including dolphins, crocodiles and almost 1,000 species of fish – has made it one of the great rivers of the world.
The Last Days of the Mighty Mekong sets out to explore the state of a river now suffering from rapid infrastructure development and over-exploitation of its natural resources.
Author Brian Eyler’s focus is the harnessing of the river’s turbulent currents for a cascade of hydroelectric dams, triggering an era of conflict over water resources and environmental damage across various borders. Nine dams built along the upper part of the Mekong (the Lancang) in China have already disrupted the flow of the river, transforming its hydrology and diminishing biodiversity.
Eyler notes that in the dry season of 2016, the Mekong dropped so low in the Laotian capital, Vientiane, that people could almost walk across it to Thailand. A mighty Mekong no more. An expert on transboundary issues in the Mekong region, he writes: “With water stored for future use in Chinese dams, the Mekong River falls to unnaturally low levels during the six-month dry season.”