Hydropower dams - Open Development Mekong

From the Riverbanks of the Salween and Mekong to the Halls of Justice: Women Challenging Mainstream Assumptions and Asserting Collective Rights

Despite experiencing systematic social, economic and cultural marginalization, women like Noon, Dao Prasuk and Pornpimol remain determined to assert their communities’ rights to existence and to protect rivershed commons for generations to come, contesting the widespread public assumptions that large-scale hydropower and water diversion infrastructure are required to propel the region’s development forward, write Pai Deetes, […]

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Cambodian environment minister bans logging at tycoon’s Cardamoms hydropower project

PHNOM PENH — In a rare move to combat forest crimes, Cambodian Environment Minister Eang Sophalleth on Sept. 2 banned all forest clearance at the site of a dam project in the country’s southwest. The ban came after multiple incidents of illegal logging inside a protected area were reported, including by Mongabay, in connection to the Stung […]

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Record-breaking floods in northern Thailand intensify scrutiny of Mekong dam project

In the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, communities in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province are taking stock of the toll wreaked by heavy rains and rising rivers. At least 33 people lost their lives in the country since mid-August amid hazardous conditions that devastated riverside homes, businesses and agricultural land. The flooding has heightened public and policymaker scrutiny […]

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Mekong Delta expects higher floods this season

HCM CITY – The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta is entering its annual flooding season and many rice farmers in upstream provinces have opened their field sluices to let the floodwaters and aquatic creatures in. The floods are caused by the rising level of the Mekong River during the rainy season, and they bring sediments and […]

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China says Mekong dam did not discharge water downstream amid heavy flooding in Thailand

China said on Tuesday a major dam on the Mekong River did not discharge floodwaters last week amid heavy flooding in Thailand. Monsoon rains across large areas in Thailand have caused extensive flooding that has killed at least nine people and affected more than 51,700 households, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. […]

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Mekong residents call on Lao PDR and dam developers to scrap Phou Ngoy dam

Some twenty representatives of the Ubon Monitoring Group on Flood and Mekong Dams (UMFD) have travelled to Bangkok to file their petition to concerned entities including Lao PDR and the lead dam developer via their representatives in Bangkok in the hope that they will review the project and scrap it The representatives over the past […]

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One-fifth of Mekong river fish species face extinction, report says

BANGKOK, March 4 (Reuters) – Unsustainable development threatens the health and diverse fish populations of the Mekong river, with one-fifth of fish species in Southeast Asia’s main artery facing extinction, a report by conservation groups said on Monday. The Mekong, stretching nearly 5,000 km (3,000 miles) from the Tibetan Plateau to the South China […]

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Fears grow that dam across Mekong River in Laos could harm World Heritage site of Luang Prabang

LUANG PRABANG, Laos (AP) — Landlocked Laos doesn’t have the famous beaches of its neighbors to attract tourists, but instead relies on the pristine beauty of its mountains and rivers and historical sites to bring in visitors. The crown jewel is Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where legend has it that Buddha once rested during his travels. […]

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Cambodian PM Affirms Ban on Mekong Hydropower Projects

Cambodia’s prime minister has stated that the country will not develop any hydropower dams on the Mekong River, reaffirming a moratorium on mainstream dam projects announced in 2020. Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a 150-megawatt hydropower dam in the southern province of Koh Kong, Prime Minister Hun Manet said that constructing dams on […]

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Thai investment in Laos hydropower reveals dire disconnect in the Mekong

Over the past year, the pace of hydropower development along the mainstream of the Mekong River in Laos has picked up, fuelled by long-term funding agreements. Chinese and Thai hydropower project investors have been signing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), which usually cover a 30-year period, with the governmental Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). Thailand […]

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