Water Crisis Mekong River
Watch the video on how dams activity and climate change threatened the livelihood of fishermen in Cambodia.
What is to be blamed for the decline in the water level in
Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, Tonle Sap in Cambodia?Station readings at the lake recorded a level of just 3.86m on 31 Aug, 2021 which is nearly 1m lower than in 2020 and about half the normal average at this time of the year.Upstream dams, constructed along the upper Mekong river in Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and China - where the river is known as Lancang - withholding water are a contributing factor to the lower levels of flow into the lake.
Data from the Mekong Dam Monitor, an online platform that tracks indicators in the Mekong basin, shows that more than 12 billion cubic metres of water have been held back by 45 upstream dams since early July.Climate change is also creating havoc with the timing and intensity of the monsoon season, further disrupting the natural behaviours of the lake system and decimating agriculture in Cambodia.What are the impacts of declining water level?
Environmental and Ecological impacts
Increase in storage, reduced rainfall volume and timing of the monsoon rains affecting the volume and timing of the reverse flows into the Tonle Sap.Increased fishing pressures, pollution, reduced sediment transport and barriers to fish migration, poses an existential threat to the Lower Mekong River ecosystems.
Social impacts Millions of people rely on the Tonle Sap lake for their livelihoods and survival. The situation has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.Fishing is no longer the viable income-earner it once was, with locals forced to move to urban areas for low-paying and notoriously difficult construction work.At the same time, migrant workers who normally do construction jobs in neighbouring Thailand have been forced to return to their local communities, only to find that the situation is desperate.Illegal fishing and the grabbing of land around flooded forest areas are compounding the problems.https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/tonle-sap-cambodia-mekong-low-water-level-dams-2161036
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