Mekong Dam Monintor (Update for Feb. 12 - 18, 2024)

 

Mekong Dam Monitor Sharing Data. Empowering People

In partnership with

Update for February 12-18 Notable changes on the Mekong in the last week. Visit the Monitor home for more, including Burmese, 中文, Khmer, ພາສາລາວ, ไทย, and Tiếng Việt translation.

SPOTLIGHT Updated Image of the Luang Prabang Dam Construction Site International media coverage of the Luang Prabang Dam, currently under construction on the Mekong Mainstream, has increased over the last month. Media attention is welcome given the significant local and transboundary impacts the dam will deliver when completed in a few years. Dam construction has been ongoing for over a year, and this image clearly shows the structure of the main dam. Power from this dam will be sold to markets in Thailand where there is already a large excess of power supply. Recently UNESCO warned the government of Laos that Luang Prabang could lose its World Cultural Heritage status as a result of the dam’s construction and numerous other developments in and around Luang Prabang.

Where is the water? Dry season releases for hydropower production were significant last week with a net release of around 1 billion cubic meters of water across 17 dams. A release from Xiaowan (PRC) accounted for about 60% of the releases, but river levels in China are so low that the release did little to raise the level of the river farther downstream along the Thai-Lao border.

Most Impactful Dams

River Levels River levels throughout the basin are currently either slightly low or close to normal for this time of year throughout the basin. The Tonle Sap Lake is about 0.70m lower than normal for this time of year.

Chiang Saen Gauge Stung Treng Gauge

Weather & Wetness The upper basin in the Tibetan Plateau is wetter than normal. Northern Laos and Cambodia remain drier than normal, except for the southern portion of the Tonle Sap Lake. Vientiane, the Lao border with Vietnam, the 3S Basin, and the Mekong Delta experienced wetter than normal conditions. Most of the lower basin was much hotter than normal with parts of Cambodia experiencing temperatures 5 degrees higher than normal.

Mekong Dam Monitor in the News

• Mongabay covered key findings from the Mekong Dam Monitor seasonal update event held last month, including how changes to the wet seasons in the upper Mekong basin are impacting hydropower productivity in ways that should prompt a rethink of basin-wide tradeoffs.