Mekong River Runs Dry

[webfact]

Mekong River runs dry; cargo ships grounded for 10 days

CHIANG RAI: -- (TNA) – Thailand's exports via Chiang Sean district in this northernmost province have been affected by a severe drought affecting the Mekong River, the 12th-longest river in the world and the 7th-longest in Asia.

According to Winai Chintongprasert, head of the Chiang Saen customhouse, the river, which forms the border of Thailand with Laos and Cambodia, and Laos with China, has run completely dry, with a very long line of sand dune islands in the middle of the river, forcing freighters from Thailand’s Chiang Saen Port to China’s Guanlei Port in Yunnan province and vice versa to have halted their runs for over 10 days.

Thai cargoes valued at more than Bt150 million are stranded aboard ships. The cargoes included palm oil, energy drinks and dehydrated longan.

The water level in Mekong River has fallen since the end of December and continued to decrease dramatically during February. (TNA)

-- TNA 2010-02-25

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[sceadugenga]

An issue that affects all of Thailand, no, all of South East Asia.

[Krungbin]

This is thanks to China and their great idea to build dams...

[paulbrun]

This is thanks to China and their great idea to build dams...

Exactly...!

[Bizz]

17 dams recently built on the Mekong River in Southeast Asia are threatening fisheries, destroying a vast ecosystem, and starving millions. And 11 more dams are currently in the planning process.more here

and here

[rodcourt49]

A severe drought affecting the river...more like a severe wall affecting the flow of the river.

[toybits]

What about the Pak Moon Dam? What about the irrigation dam across the Kok River just down river from the Bridge at T6? Preventing the flow of water down river also affects the amount of water the Mekong river gets.

Edited February 26, 2010 by toybits

[toybits]

Wasn't it the idea of those Western Engineers from the Mekong River Commission (now Mekong River Secretariate) that proposed the run of River Dams across the Mekong River? Now you are blaming the Chinese?

Excerpts from an article by TERRA (http://www.terraper.org/articles/MM%20dams...der%20TERRA.pdf)

Plans to dam the Mekong mainstream are not new. In fact, since the late 1950s, the Mekong Committee had been promoting and conducting investigations to identify potential sites for hydroelectric and irrigation dams in the Mekong region. By the 1960s, the Mekong Committee had designed plans for a cascade of seven large-scale “multi-purpose” dams on the lower Mekong mainstream with the aim of providing hydroelectricity, flood control, irrigation and improved navigation, which were proposed in the Mekong Committee’s Indicative Plan in 1970. With a total capacity of 23,300 megawatts, the so-called Mekong Cascade would have transformed much of the lower Mekong River to a series of large reservoirs, capable of storing more than one-third of the Mekong’s annual flow.

But perhaps the Chinese jumped the gun because now they have 3 dams while the planned MRC dams have largely been mired down by politics.

This is thanks to China and their great idea to build dams...

Edited February 26, 2010 by toybits

[villagefarang]

What about the Pak Moon Dam? What about the irrigation dam across the Kok River just down river from the Bridge at T6? Preventing the flow of water down river also affects the amount of water the Mekong river gets.

I have a picture or two of that one.

Place visual aid here...

[jubby]

The Mekong more resembles a Canal at the moment than a vast River but it certainly hasn't run dry.

I was thinking about this subject a few days ago, wondering wether the Level was normal this time of year.

Now I have my Answer.

I'm surprised they don't try and dredge a shipping channel to keep it open or maybe they do

[sceadugenga]

Internationally acclaimed photojournalist sceadugenga may have a run to Chiang Khong tomorrow to check rumours of a dry river bed.

Watch this space.

[bifftastic]

Just spoke to the g/f (5km east of Chiang Saen and 100m from Mae Nam Kong) and it would seem the reports are correct. Apparently 'China not open door from water'.

I'll try and get a photo of the water levels, probably tomorrow.

[jombom]

This is thanks to China and their great idea to build dams...

Exactly...!

Sorry guys, but not correct.

What flows in, must flow out. Dams merely slow down the river current, or speed it up, depending on the water release rate.

Severe drought means low flow into river, hence the low water level towards the end of the dry season.

[jubby]

Internationally acclaimed photojournalist sceadugenga may have a run to Chiang Khong tomorrow to check rumours of a dry river bed.

Watch this space.

I was there yesterday Scea. And unless my eyes deceive me Its still necessary to take a boat . Its Low for sure, narrow channel but fast flowing. If the River bed was dry I'm sure the worlds media would decend on Chiang Khong like a plague of Locusts.

Take the Trip anyway, lots of photo opportunities for sure

[TwentyBaht]

Yes, the Mekong in Chiang Khong is not a dry walk across yet. But, not much boat traffic. Just a couple of cargo boats that appeared not to be loaded. And, a couple of speed boats. But, the river seems to be dropping a centimeter or so each day. Seems to be more people harvesting the riverweed and panning for gold, too.

[bifftastic]

still waiting for the latest photos but these were taken on 03/02/2010 about 5km east of Chiang Saen.

g/f's brother in law said the water gets much higher (which is why they built up the bank) but now, it seems, people are commenting on how low it is.

riverweed.AVI

[Doudou]

This is thanks to China and their great idea to build dams...

Exactly...!

Sorry guys, but not correct.

What flows in, must flow out. Dams merely slow down the river current, or speed it up, depending on the water release rate.

Severe drought means low flow into river, hence the low water level towards the end of the dry season.

Sorry jombom but not correct.

Dams reduce the flow in two ways:

- first by the need to fill up the lake formed by the dam.

- second by the water evaporation due to the increased exposed surface. The larger the lake, the greater the loss.

[jubby]

The Dams obviously do have an Impact. I would have thought the levels have been decreasing for years now. And suddenly the shippings in the Sh&t. A bit of forethought and a bit more dredging would probably have solved the problem.

You don't see any huge traffic south of Chiang Saen anyhow.

[Theyreallrubbish]

I noticed at Nong Khai last week that the river was lower than I'd ever seen it.

It was so low that a western couple on the bus across the river exclaimed, "I didn't know they had beaches here. They didn't mention it in the guidebooks"

[Goinghomesoon]

We drove the river-side road from Chiang Saen to Chiang Khong on Friday. Horrible drive due to the roadworks for 75% of the trip but anyways... It's true that the river is mostly rocks between those two points on the map. Not much water to be seen at all, it's hard to see how anything other than a small boat could get through, although of course the remaining channels might be a decent depth. We normally see the river at the Nong Khai end of the country and it was a shock to see it barely a trickle near CRai. Have never posted a pic here but if I can work it out I'll put some up here.

[jombom]

Sorry guys, but not correct.

What flows in, must flow out. Dams merely slow down the river current, or speed it up, depending on the water release rate.

Severe drought means low flow into river, hence the low water level towards the end of the dry season.

Sorry jombom but not correct.

Dams reduce the flow in two ways:

- first by the need to fill up the lake formed by the dam.

- second by the water evaporation due to the increased exposed surface. The larger the lake, the greater the loss.

Thank you for your comments, which are correct. Perhaps I was being too simplistic.

Your first point, seems to have become an issue on the three gorges project.

The impact of your second point may be reduced by the sheer size of the Mekong catchment area. The evaporation obviously returns to ground as rain etc.

On checking further, apparently some people along the river, have suggested it is being caused by a late thaw further north in China. We have all seen media coverage of a very cold winter recently.

Hopefully the thaw will not be too fast, as it could result in severe flooding in the near future.

[Goinghomesoon]

Sorry got my dates wrong, pic in attachment was taken last Thurs (not Fri) between Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong and pretty indicative of what we saw for much of the drive.

[Macx]

Two years ago, China released a lot of water after the rainy season and flooded the paddies in some Issan regions, south of Nong Khai, resulting in loss of over half the crop. Locals complained, but it never made the news.

And now, with the very low water level, a record number of large fish are caught. Not difficult to guess where the eco-system is heading here.

I guess one could say "Shit flows down river."

With their billions, China does produce plenty and does not seem to care where or how it flows.

Edited March 3, 2010 by Macx

[jubby]

I know someone who had to get out of one of the speedboats last week and walk for a while somewhere between Huau Xai and Pak Beng So its very bad further down river. It was the same four years ago apparently.

[villagefarang]

What about the Pak Moon Dam? What about the irrigation dam across the Kok River just down river from the Bridge at T6? Preventing the flow of water down river also affects the amount of water the Mekong river gets.

I have a picture or two of that one.

Place visual aid here...

There have been several downloads of my dam shot and I doubt many of you want to travel to my blog, so here are some more shots of the dam on the same day that show the inner workings of the floodgates. Also one that illustrates the river level down stream a few kilometers.

[whiterussian]

Just got my moobaan water bill. Looks like the rates have increased...

[jubby]

Just got my moobaan water bill. Looks like the rates have increased...

Do you get your Water from the Mighty Mekong ?

[bifftastic]

this photo is not the best I'll admit but you can see (I hope) there are sand banks visible in the middle of the river. This was taken 2 days ago in Chiang Saen

Edited March 5, 2010 by bifftastic

[sceadugenga]

Today's trip to the Mekong, which was briefer than I would have preferred, revealed a fairly low water level but I have seen it lower.

Bear in mind we still have a possible two months of dry season to come.

Edited March 8, 2010 by sceadugenga

[sceadugenga]

Some nice waterfront property could be available at the right price. (Boat extra).