The problem of water resources of the Mekong River threatens to escalate into a serious conflict between China and several Southeast Asian countries. The origins of the Mekong, which occupies the 13th place among the longest rivers in the world (about 4350 km), are located on the Tibetan Plateau. The Mekong flows through China (Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province), Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. China is already having on the Mekong (China calls it the Lancang River) two operating hydroelectric power stations and at the beginning of September 2012 announced the launch of the third one called Nochzhadu located in Yunnan Province. For its construction, there has been built the highest dam in Asia (261.5 m) and the reservoir with the volume of 21,749 cubic meters at the height of 812 m above the sea level. We believe that the detention of runoff of the Mekong River as a result of the construction of the dams results in a shortage of water resources in other countries and change the entire drainage basin.
In China, such ambitious projects are not rare. They are accompanied by a change in the river flow, the resettlement of tens of thousands of people, the destruction of historic settlements, changes in historical landscapes. The Chinese government believes that all the economic benefits are paying off: cheap electricity, as well as new possibilities for the prevention of floods and regulation of river flows. Dissatisfaction of the locals and criticism from environmentalists are just not taken into account.
China
Mekong situation is fundamentally different. There are protesting not own citizens, but neighboring states, who fear that this and other hydropower plant on the Mekong, planned by China (there are five more hydroelectric power stations planned, two of which are already under construction), will cause rapid changes in water level in the river or negatively wag for downstream in four states. These countries – Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam – preoccupied about the regulation of runoff in China, even in 1995 established the Mekong River Committee. In 1996, the States of the upstream, China and Myanmar joined it. However, despite the efforts of the Committee, the situation continues to worsen (Tilt, 2014).
Concerns have already been expressed at the highest level. Speaking at the APEC summit in Vladivostok, the President of Vietnam Truong Tan Sang said: "Management of water resources of the Mekong River and its effective use grow into an urgent problem, directly and adversely affecting the largest rice granary of Vietnam" (Pearse-Smith, 2012). There is a growing concern of China's activity in other countries: Laos, and in a friendly to China Cambodia.
In experts’ experts, the dams have been built in territories without roads and infrastructure of electricity transmission and the local demand for energy is less than the projected hydroelectric capacity. Three hydropower plants will produce a volume of energy, which would b equal to the production capacity of 15 thermal coal-fired plants. Simultaneously, these projects are assessed by the government as a means of overcoming the poverty and economic development of the backward depressive regions of the countries and their integration into well-developed industrial east area of China. However, the projects will affect the socio-economic situation in the neighboring countries, the high water river transport of sediments (on which depends the stability of the ecosystem of the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, as well as the entire Mekong), the development of fisheries, it is not clear, since no assessment of their the impact on the environment was carried out (Tilt 2014).
Concerns over the water provision of the population of downstream Mekong basin are not without grounds. How the people of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam think, China, having built the Xiaowan dam (one of the highest in the world) in 2010 and after the works on the Nochzhadu dam are done in 2017, will be in a state to manually run the river flow by storing water in large tanks and controlling its provision in the dry season to the neighboring countries.
In 2010, when the countries, located in the lower Mekong basin, encountered a severe drought, they accused China of worsening the situation by filling the reservoir of the recently built Xiaowan dam. Officials and developers, involved in its construction, have reacted to the accusations in their address by inviting experts from the neighboring countries to the site and promising to provide detailed information. nevertheless, this promise is still not satisfied.
It is noteworthy that in 2002, due to pressure on the part of the Mekong Commission, which China did not join, and environmental non-governmental organizations, China showed its readiness to provide this international institution, which brings together Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, with regular daily information about the water level in the upstream of the Mekong in order to prevent countries located in downstream from the in hydrological situation. China’s failure to comply with its promise was due to the fact that, to its mind, hydrological information, especially on the flow of transboundary Mekong River, are confidential and belong to the national security issue. Therefore, the implementation of China's hydropower plans does not enhance its credibility on the part of neighboring countries, which, however, do not intend to go for confrontation with China for economic reasons: as they want to attract Chinese investment in their economy and expand trade with it. A similar position is hold by the Mekong Commission, which prefers to take only soft steps not to deteriorate the relations with China.
China, in turn, does not intend to abandon its plans for further development of the Mekong hydropower. It has conceived the construction of 19 more dams in the upper basin of the Mekong, in addition to the seven that are ready to operate. Now, China may do whatever it wants with impunity, and this is an extremely dangerous situation. The country has not yet signed any agreements on transnational waters with Indochina’s states, being afraid of any obligations and the loss of strategic control of valuable water resources (Kondolf, Rubin & Minear, 2014). The country's management is trying to convince the Indochina states that hydropower plants on the Mekong River do not contain any danger for them and are even beneficial because they help keep the balance in the river flow in all the seasons and, consequently, there is no reason for concern. China takes control over 20% of the river flow. As a result, the fate of almost 60 million people, who live in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, is now up to the Chinese politicians (Osborne, 2004).
Laos
In 2012, one of Asia's poorest countries overcame the resistance of Vietnam, Cambodia and environmentalists and began a construction of the Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River worth $ 3.5 billion. This project will allow Laos to capitalize on the export of electricity, but can affect fish and disrupt the way of life of millions of people. The ceremony of launching the construction of Xayaburi dam with the capacity of 1285 MW was held on 7 November. The announcement was made at the beginning of the two-day summit of the leaders of 50 countries of Asia and Europe in the Laotian capital of Vientiane. In landlocked Laos, the strategy of its development is based on the generation of electricity using the rivers to be sold to neighboring countries. In the last year, Cambodia and Vietnam demanded from Laos to postpone construction of the dam to the careful study of its impact on the environment. Countries fear that the Xayaburi will have negative impact on the development of agriculture and fisheries (Herbertson, 2013).
According to the environmentalists, the construction of hydropower plants on the Mekong will affect the livelihoods of 60 million people that depend on fishing, irrigation and transportation on the river. In addition, the dam may disturb the ecosystem of the region: cause uncontrolled growth of algae and block the way to dozens of species of migratory fish that swim upstream to spawning grounds. Lao authorities informed of the decision of these problems. Deputy Minister of Energy of the country Viraphon Viravong assured the public that the migration of fish and rain water flow will be normalized by modifying the original design of Xayaburi. He said that Laos had increased the cost of construction of the dam for $ 100 million, in order the lower part to be able to periodically open, allowing the fish to swim up and down the mud (Herbertson, 2013).
The construction of Xayaburi was led by the Thai company called Xayaburi Power Co, whose majority shareholder are the Thai company Ch. Karnchang, PTT and the Electricity Generating from Bangkok. The funds required for the construction of the dam, were also provided by the Thais for future energy supply. According to experts, a giant dam will be the engine of the country’s economic growth. Its construction, as well as several mining projects and an increase in demand for electricity in neighboring countries, according to the International Monetary Fund estimated that will provide economic growth of 8% per year until 2015
Cambodia
The largest in Cambodie Sambor Dam is supposed to have the lowest level while talking about the Mekong mainstream dams. According to the plans, it should be a concrete and earth rockfill dam. It is located near the town of Sambor, in the upstream of Kratie. It is being constructed by the Chinese Southern Power Grid and is valued at US $ 4,947 million. Assigning transmission lines will cost further $ 312.9 million. 70% of the generated electricity is for sales to Vietnam, while the rest is for use of the Cambodian domestic markets. The dam will have a projected capacity of 2,600MW, and be 18 kilometers and 56 meters high. Its water reservoir will be 620 km with an active storing tank of 463 km away. Construction and flooding will be accompanied by resettlement of about 20 000 people. The earliest potential start-up date is 2020 (Osborne, 2009).
Like other dams designed for the Mekong, the one in Sambor might provoke a lot of social, economic and environmental concerns. This dam as well as the Stung Treng Dam are expected to have a significant negative impact on the Mekong fisheries, its hydro-resources and the as well as the economies of neighboring countries. If the Sambor Dam is in operation, the fish movement ways are hampered more or less completely. The dam will have a negative impact on the Mekong River Basin in terms of destabilization of the stream channels between Kratie and the capital of Phnom Penh as well as reduction in the country’s floodplain. When set up, approximately 20 villages with 2 000 households and above 10 000 people will be evicted or displaced after the construction of the dam (Smajgl & Ward, 2013). The two dams, Stung Treng and Sambor might create a sharp crisis the local people, living in the areas affected, and lead to an emergency state in terms of food security ("Hunger threat from Lower Mekong dams: scientists", 2012).
Conclusions
Six dams, already built in the Mekong River in China, and two dams on the lower Mekong in Laos, do not fulfill the conditions for sustainable obvious principle of what is meant by a "good dam". Dams Xiowan and Nochzhadu along the Mekong River are not fair or equal to the majority of poor agriculture communities living below these dams. These dams do not have a reliable environmental impact assessment, were not carried out according to appropriate cross-border investigations, and were built over the objections of the bordering countries ("Multiple dams are an ominous threat to life on the Mekong River", 2015). Recent data, published in "Catch and Culture" - the publication of the Mekong River Commission Fisheries - reveal the hidden economic losses as a result of the construction of dams on the river, because there were developed the world's largest fisheries, worth 11 billion dollars. It is estimated that in 2015 in Cambodia's economy fisheries will bring 2.8 billion dollars, which is a significant part of the GDP of Cambodia, valued at16, 71 billion dollars (Fawthrop, 2016). These figures are based on commercial fishing, which is threatened by the construction of hydroelectric dams. Studies have shown that the loss of forward-looking fisheries, crops and biodiversity through dams will lead to a very large deficit, compared with the little profits from the increase in energy and electric potential. A study in 2015 has counted the total loss of the Mekong, which range from minus 2.4 billion dollars (6 dams) to minus 21.8 billion dollars (for 11 dams) (Fawthrop, 2016). Even from the economic point of view, it makes no sense to build a large dam on the river, which was originally endowed with a remarkable ecological environment.
Sustainable hydropower and concerns about harm to the environment, mainly depend on the technology of mitigation, namely tools, such as a passage for fish, fish elevator or even the so-called "fish-friendly" turbines. Kristy Owen, coordinator of the program "on environmental cooperation in the Mekong" explained during a recent forum: "This activity through the development of projects can provide a satisfying business needs, while at the same time reduce the threat to the local population and the environment" (Fawthrop, 2016). Her statement suggests that, regardless of the costs and the catastrophic consequences of "bad dams" they will be operating after the mitigation measures and improvements.
Consultant on the hydropower, working with the World Wildlife Fund, Dr. Jian Hua Meng considering mitigation measures, undertaken by Swedish consultants on the dam Hayaburi, stated: "They're playing roulette with the livelihoods of over 60 million people. This would be unacceptable in Europe, so why does it work in Asia?" (Fawthrop, 2016).
References
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Herbertson, K. (2013). Xayaburi Dam: How Laos Violated the 1995 Mekong Agreement.International Rivers. Retrieved 3 April 2016, from http://www.internationalrivers.org/blogs/267/xayaburi-dam-how-laos-violated-the-1995-mekong-agreement
Hunger threat from Lower Mekong dams: scientists. (2012). ECOS. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ec12404
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