Friday’s statement said low rainfall and dams on the Lower Mekong and tributaries also contributed to the drop in levels. “There have been sudden rises and falls in water levels immediately downstream of Jinghong and further down to Vientiane,” said Winai Wongpimool, director of the MRC Secretariat’s Technical Support Division. Such fluctuations affect fish migration, agriculture and transportation that nearly 70 million people rely on for their livelihoods and food security.
lørdag 13. februar 2021
Mekong River at 'Worrying' Low Level Amid Calls for More Chinese Dam Data
Water levels in the Mekong River have fallen to a “worrying level” in part due to outflow restrictions from Chinese hydropower dams upstream, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said Friday, calling on Beijing to share all its water data. The vital waterway has turned blue along the Thai-Laos border, from its usual murky brown color -- signaling shallow water and low levels of nutrition-rich sediment -- partially from outflow restrictions from the Jinghong dam in China’s Yunnan province, the inter-governmental MRC said.
Friday’s statement said low rainfall and dams on the Lower Mekong and tributaries also contributed to the drop in levels. “There have been sudden rises and falls in water levels immediately downstream of Jinghong and further down to Vientiane,” said Winai Wongpimool, director of the MRC Secretariat’s Technical Support Division. Such fluctuations affect fish migration, agriculture and transportation that nearly 70 million people rely on for their livelihoods and food security.
Friday’s statement said low rainfall and dams on the Lower Mekong and tributaries also contributed to the drop in levels. “There have been sudden rises and falls in water levels immediately downstream of Jinghong and further down to Vientiane,” said Winai Wongpimool, director of the MRC Secretariat’s Technical Support Division. Such fluctuations affect fish migration, agriculture and transportation that nearly 70 million people rely on for their livelihoods and food security.
