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Archive for the ‘Mekong River’ Category

Damming The Mekong River

Courtesy of Circle of Blue, an interesting graphical look at the nearly one dozen dams are planned for the main steam of the Lower Mekong River: The Mekong River begins at the Tibetan Plateau in China and stretches through Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, before ending at the South China Sea in Vietnam. Eager […]

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The Thirsty Dragon: Water Release At Yunnan Dam Sparks SE Asian Alarm

Via GoKunming, a report on how a water release at Yunnan dam is sparking SE Asian alarm: A huge hydroelectric facility in southern Yunnan is causing tension between China and several of its downstream Southeast Asian neighbors. The Jinghong dam (????), which stretches across the Mekong River, is currently discharging water in an effort to […]

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Damming The Mekong River: Economic Boon Or Environmental Mistake?

Via NPR, a report on Laos’ plans to dam the Mekong river: The Mekong is Southeast Asia’s most storied river. Its rich biodiversity though has been under threat for decades from things like overfishing and overpopulation. Environmentalists are now adding dams to that list. Towards the headwaters of the Mekong is Laos, one of the […]

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Messing Up the Mekong: Laos Plans a Second Huge Dam

Via Time, an article on Laos’ plan for a second Mekong dam which is likely to have significant impacts on the region’s fishing, farming, and wildlife: The World Widlife Fund (WWF) has called for an emergency meeting with the Mekong River Commission (MRC) after Laos announced that it will go ahead with its second hydroelectric […]

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Damming The Mekong: Fish-Friendly?

Via The Economist, a look at the controversy over the Xayaburi dam: ALONG the banks of the Mekong in Laos, the forest has been stripped and the mountainside gouged out. Construction of the Xayaburi dam, the first on the lower Mekong, is in full swing. The dam, which will cost $3.5 billion, is being built […]

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Mekong Hydropower Projects Will Accumulate 16 Percent Of River’s Water

Courtesy of OOSKA News, an article on the potential impact that hydropower projects planned within the Mekong River basin could have upon flows: If the hydropower projects planned within the Mekong River basin are completed, they will accumulate as much as 16 percent of the river’s water volume, or 475 billion cubic meters a year, […]

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