Mekong Dam Monitor (Update for July 8 - 14 - corrected)

 

Update for July 8-14

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 June 2024 flow much lower than normal, even under natural conditions Even if upstream dams were not restricting water during June 2024, we estimate natural flow to Stung Treng, Cambodia would only have been around 20.63 billion cubic meters. Prior to 2007, the average June flow was 27.2 billion cubic meters. This suggests June 2024 natural flow would have been about 25% below normal – a significant gap caused solely by climate conditions (lack of rain and snowmelt). However, dams restricted 2.65 billion cubic meters of water, dropping the observed flow at Stung Treng to 17.9 billion cubic meters, or 35% below the pre-2007 mean. This is an instance of dam restrictions combining with poor climate conditions to make a bad situation worse. Reducing wet season flow to levels significantly below the pre-2007 mean is extremely impactful to the Mekong floodpulse, particularly during early wet season months when wet season ecological processes which drive the Mekong’s massive fish productivity should be initiating. Correction Note: The Spotlight image was updated on 7/18/2024 to correct the Total Flow Volume Comparison descriptive explanation.

Where is the water? We tracked no significant releases or restrictions from dams last week, likely due to lower than normal precipitation levels. A small net release of less than 100 million cubic meters was observed across the 55 dams we monitor.

Reservoir Series Over Time

River Levels Above Pakse, river levels are trending below normal levels. Below Pakse, river levels are near normal.

Chiang Saen Gauge Stung Treng Gauge

Weather & Wetness Drought conditions (orange and red) worsened throughout the entirety of the basin last week, but particularly in China. Drought is intensifying throughout the middle of the basin from Laos, NE Thailand, and Cambodia, yet the 3S Basin across Vietnam and Laos and northern Cambodia is experiencing severe storms. The Mekong Delta continues to experience above average wetness.