Dam Debate Looms Large over Mekong Summit

Originally appeared in Agence France-Presse

April 2, 2010

By Rachel O’Brien

Leaders of Southeast Asian nations straddling the shrinking lower Mekong River are set to lean on China at landmark talks as controversy builds over the cause of the waterway’s lowest levels in decades.

Beijing’s Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao will join the premiers of Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin to discuss management of the vast river, on which more than 60 million people depend.

Myanmar will also participate as a dialogue partner at the top-level talks, which will kick off late Sunday and run through Monday.

A crippling drought in the region and the much-debated role of hydropower dams are due to dominate the summit of the inter-governmental Mekong River Commission (MRC) — the first in its 15-year history.

The body warned Friday that the health of the Mekong Basin and the river’s eco-systems could be threatened by proposed dams and expanding populations.

“There is a strong link between water quality and the impact of human activity on eco-systems,” MRC advisor Hanne Bach said in a statement.

“Over the past five years, significant changes have taken place in water related resources and this is likely to continue, which may put livelihoods under threat,” she added.

China is expected to staunchly defend its own dams, which activists downstream blame for water shortages, after the Mekong shrivelled to its lowest level in 50 years in Laos and Thailand’s north.

Nations in the lower Mekong basin are likely to press China for information on the river as well as financial help, said Anond Snidvongs, director of the Southeast Asia START Regional Centre, which researches environmental change.

And “behind closed doors there will be strong debate,” he told AFP.

China — itself suffering the worst drought in a century in its southwest, with more than 24 million people short of drinking water — says the reason for water shortages is unusually low rainfall rather than man-made infrastructure.

It says the dams, built to meet soaring demand for water and hydro-generated electricity, have been effective in releasing water during dry seasons and preventing flooding in rainy months.

“China will never do things that harm the interests of (lower Mekong) countries,” said Yao Wen, a spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok.

The crisis has grounded cargo and tour boats on the so-called “mighty Mekong” and alarmed communities along what is the world’s largest inland fishery.

The situation “could be a taste of things to come in the basin if climate change predictions become a reality,” said MRC spokesman Damian Kean.

The chief of the MRC’s secretariat, Jeremy Bird, last week hailed Beijing’s agreement to share water level data from two dams during this dry season, saying it “shows that China is willing to engage with lower basin countries”.

Yet questions remain over the impact of the eight planned or existing dams on the mainstream river in China.

Vice Minister of Water Resources Liu Ning said Wednesday more were needed to guarantee water and food security, while 12 dams in lower Mekong countries have also been proposed.

Campaigners also fear that the settling of political scores could block co-operation over the Mekong — especially the current animosity between Cambodian premier Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The summit marks Hun Sen’s first visit to Thailand since the two countries became embroiled in a row late last year over Cambodia’s appointment of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an economics adviser.

“That’s what worries me quite a lot, that the debate will be more political, and not even related to water,” said Anond.

Thailand has invoked a tough security law and will deploy more than 8,000 troops in Hua Hin to ensure protesters do not disrupt the summit, in light of mass anti-government “Red Shirt” rallies in Bangkok since mid-March.

A year ago, regional leaders were forced to abandon a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) due to protests.