Source - Business Day Website (Eng)
June 23, 2006

Bloomberg
Thailand agreed with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to regulate the flow of the Mekong River in a bid to maintain minimum levels, as regional economic growth and rising oil prices boost hydropower use.

The four countries form the Mekong River Commission, which aims to jointly develop the water resources of the river, whose length the commission puts at 4,800 kilometres, the 10th longest in the world. The countries account for 82 percent of the river’s total flow volume, with so-called “dialogue partners” China and Myanmar accounting for the rest.

The accord signed in Ho Chi Minh City calls for cooperation on maintaining minimum monthly flows in the dry season, taking measures in the event of droughts or floods and establishing the location of hydrological stations.

“We have to jointly manage our major asset,” said Yongyut Tiyapairat, minister for natural resources and the environment, in comments prepared for delivery in Ho Chi Minh City.

“Our countries need to be ready to cope with the growing demands for water and related resources. Our populations are growing and our economies are expanding.”

The agreement also calls for cooperating on controlling waters during the wet season at Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia which is connected to the Mekong River by the Tonle Sap River. The current of the Tonle Sap River reverses flow after the rainy season, causing the Mekong to overflow its banks.

“We want to protect the delta from saline intrusion, we want to maintain the reverse flow of the Tonle Sap, and we want to avoid peak flows, because we’ve had terrible floods in the past,” said Olivier Cogels, chief executive of the commission's secretariat, in an interview in Ho Chi Minh City.

“This agreement is one step further to put that into practice,” Cogels said. “It gives the framework and it gives the responsibilities of the different parties.”

The maintenance of minimum flows on the river during the dry season would meet one of the main criteria for future development scenarios that include irrigation and hydropower, Cogels said. While regional demand for hydropower using Mekong River-linked waterways will rise in the future, less than 10 percent of total potential hydropower generation in the lower Mekong region is currently being exploited, Cogels said.

“We can expect, with the oil price going up, more hydropower development,” he said. “If oil prices go up, hydropower becomes more competitive. The idea is to have that done in an acceptable way for environmental and social consequences.”

The commission is in contact with China on the impact on the lower reaches of the river of hydropower projects involving the upper Mekong, Cogels said. The Mekong’s source is in Tibet.

“The dams which are under construction in China do not consume water, they only change the regime of the water,” he said. “The concern is about fluctuations, and that is something we discuss quite often with China. There are a bit too many fluctuations to dam releases.”

Hydropower projects in Vietnam offer lower costs than alternative power sources, ensuring that Vietnam, the most populous member of the Mekong River Commission, will retain a focus on developing its hydropower resources, the World Bank said in a report last month.

 

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