As water levels in the lower-Mekong region hit record lows for the second year in a row, a report published Friday by the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission urged China, Myanmar and its member countries to share more data about hydroelectric dam operations to enable all parties to prepare for droughts and floods.
The report by the MRC – made up of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — examined river conditions in the lower Mekong between January and July 2020, attempting to identify causes for the lowest reverse flow intake since 1997 in Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest lake.
A series of 13 dams on the Mekong river—11 in China and two in Laos—as well as many more dams in the river’s tributaries in Laos, alter the Mekong’s natural flow significantly, but mitigating the effects of the reduced flow depends on governments having the best possible information, the report said.
In full: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/mrc-08072020175825.html
