Mekong River group says water levels have decreased downstream despite China pledge
- China’s Ministry of Water Resources said it would postpone a plan to restrict water flows at its Jinghong hydropower dam in Yunnan province
- But water levels in downstream Mekong countries have fallen, potentially affecting life in the river and riverine communities, the Mekong River Commission says
Despite China’s pledge to not restrict water flows from its Jinghong hydropower dam on the Mekong River until the end of this month, water levels in downstream Southeast Asian countries have decreased over the past week, according to the Mekong River Commission (MRC).
The intergovernmental commission – which counts Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam as members – said the process of restricting water flows from the Jinghong dam, which lies on the upper part of the river in Yunnan province, appeared to have started last Thursday.
“As this is the rainy season, the amount of rainfall we receive over a given period is important to the Mekong River levels,” said the MRC secretariat, in a written reply to This Week in Asia on Tuesday.
“A sudden increase or decrease in river level, whether due to dam releases or flash floods, poses a great deal of challenges not only to accurate forecasting of river levels, but also to life in the river and riverine communities.”
From July 30 to August 3, water levels from the stretches of the river between Chiang Saen in Thailand and Vientiane in Laos decreased between 0.8 and 2.05 metres, the MRC said, while from Nakhon Phanom in Thailand to Stung Treng, Kratie and Kampong Cham in Cambodia, the decline was about 0.6 metres.
Over the past week, the river’s flow below the Jinghong Dam fell from 1,507 to 997 cubic metres per second, while in terms of overall water level, the decline was about 0.8 metres, from 536.32 metres on July 28 to 535.52 metres on August 3, added the MRC, which focuses on sustainable development of the river’s resources.