Drought crisis: Mekong running dry - kilometers of "beach"

[CGW]

42 minutes ago, toenail said:

Despite water shortages, the waist of water during Songkron will continue.

Nonsense, once people have had fun as they have done for centuries the water will be recirculated and used again, another time and place ????

The water doesn't just disappear! 

[CGW]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

So just where is the big river water getting stopped/diverted at? And by whom?

Try search "dam china testing" should lead you to an article in BP which explains one of the reasons it is so low at this time.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

15 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

All part of the Belt and Road initative

 

I'm assuming, the other countries want the dams because they will obtain relatively cheaper hydroelectric power, which they need/want for their citizens and to further develop their countries. And it's arguably a whole lot better than burning coal, at least, if the dam were developed properly.

 

But as would be the case with authoritarian regimes, the projects are not transparent, little if any environmental impact assessment is done prior to their construction, and the construction itself has proven to be questionable. Their own people get evicted without recourse to make way for the dams. And it would be interesting to know if China ends up getting a share of the power generated.

 

[mrfill]

27 minutes ago, Pdavies99 said:

Looks okay to me at Nong Khai!

 

Nong Khai used to have a beach, then it vanished. Pics from 1999 (left) and 2015 (right)

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

19 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

                GOLIATH     

                                                  DAVID  

I agree 100%. China may be outta control, but Thailand is nearly outta water.

 

Maybe China will graciously grant Thailand some extra water this year, apparently same as occurred last summer. SCMP from mid last year:

 

Quote

 

Beijing’s foreign minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday that China had released more water to “help Thailand”.

“Thailand’s suffering is China’s suffering,” he said.

 

 

[ratcatcher]

9 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

“Thailand’s suffering is China’s suffering,” he said.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

 

The reason you can't see the guy's left arm is because he's got it up PCO's back, moving him about and getting him to talk just like a puppet!  

[Enoon]

1 hour ago, zyphodb said:

The Mekong at Mukdahan is the lowest I've ever seen it, just because there're no beaches doesn't mean it isn't REALLY low...

 

Currently 125.849 metres AMSL at Mukdahan, where keith101 made his "observation".

 

Max. 3.25 metres above the river bed.

 

Min. 1.25 metres above river bed.

 

About .5 metres below average.

 

Seems to be lowest, at this time of year, since 2003.

 

http://ffw.mrcmekong.org/stations.php?StCode=MUK&StName=Mukdahan

 

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Enoon

[Isaan sailor]

China did this to Mekong—while Gen. Prayut become best buddies with the ChiComs.  Imagine what China would have done to Mekong if the General had stood up to them...

[bwpage3]

2 hours ago, Ireland32 said:

Thailand needs to push back on China , They are outta Control 

China owns Thailand and Thailand wouldn't dare.

[simon43]

2 hours ago, Ireland32 said:

Thailand needs to push back on China , They are outta Control 

Yep, that'll work ????

[FarFlungFalang]

5 hours ago, keith101 said:

I just came back from Savanakhet and the Mekong was well up with no beach in sight as the bus was going over the bridge back into Mukdahan . 

 

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Wanna be more specific?  Perhaps a link or citation or two?

 

Keith just posted above that there was plenty of water, and no beach, in the Mekong on his recent passing thru Vientiane, Laos....

 

 

I was up there for lunch yesterday and noticed it was a lot clearer than normal.It might be down a tad but not much.Vientiane is a few hundred km's up the river than Mukdahan and the earlier stories mentioned a similar situation where you could walk across up river but we didn't notice much change. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

41 minutes ago, Enoon said:

 

Currently 125.849 metres AMSL at Mukdahan, where keith101 made his "observation".

 

Max. 3.25 metres above the river bed.

 

Min. 1.25 metres above river bed.

 

About .5 metres below average.

 

Seems to be lowest, at this time of year, since 2003.

 

http://ffw.mrcmekong.org/stations.php?StCode=MUK&StName=Mukdahan

 

 

I have a hard time following the details of this stuff. But perhaps the chart below is useful. And perhaps explains why different folks are reporting different kinds of water levels at different locations along the river:

 

 

http://ffw.mrcmekong.org/weekly_report/2019/2019-12-31%20Weekly%20Dry%20Season%20Situation.pdf

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Normal????

 

 

https://monitoring.mrcmekong.org/

 

 

[metempsychotic]

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

What's the source, and dating, of that map?

 

The above info I posted makes it sound like the other SE nations are doing their share of the damage as well.

 

And who is funding that you think?

[zyphodb]

2 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

Currently 125.849 metres AMSL at Mukdahan, where keith101 made his "observation".

 

Max. 3.25 metres above the river bed.

 

Min. 1.25 metres above river bed.

 

About .5 metres below average.

 

Seems to be lowest, at this time of year, since 2003.

 

http://ffw.mrcmekong.org/stations.php?StCode=MUK&StName=Mukdahan

 

 

If you look at the island in front of Savannakhet it's much higher out of the water than usual, and if you look at the pillers below friendship bridge 2 the water level is very low. Also the water is clear instead of it's normal muddy self. Never seen that before...

[techietraveller84]

In the US, the Colorado river has been blocked and diverted by so many dams that by the time in reaches Mexico, it's barely a trickle. Like the US, China is very water hungry, so this problem with the Mekong probably isn't going to get better any time soon.

[Phet Chop Boi]

It will not be long before parts of Thailand will be under water again 

Could they not save that water in giant reservoirs or something ?

Save the water for a rainy day ?