Mekong Dam Monitor (Update for May 13 - 19, 2024)

 

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PLEASE NOTE: As of May 2024, the Mekong Dam Monitor has a new web address! Moving forward, please access our data portal via https://mekongmonitor.stimson.org.

Update for May 13-19 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 Nuozhadu, the Largest Dam in the Mekong, is Filling Unseasonably Early For the third week in a row, levels at the Nuozhadu dam rose, adding 1.75 billion cubic meters to the Mekong’s largest reservoir. Typically Nuozhadu does not begin to restrict water and refill its reservoir until July or August (2016-2022 line). In recent months there has been excess snowmelt in the Mekong’s headwaters, and it is possible that Nuozhadu’s operators are using that excess snowmelt to get an early start on wet season restrictions. Last year, the reservoir only filled to 50% and hydropower production from China’s Mekong’s dams has recently not hit targets due to low water availability over the last two wet seasons. Raising the reservoir level now will save water to be used for hydropower production during the 2025 dry season, but it comes at the detriment of lower levels downstream. Levels in the Golden Triangle are well below normal.

Where is the water? A significant restriction of water (892 million cubic meters) at Nuozhadu dam in China equaled the releases of all other dams for a near-net zero change in water flow across the basin. The most significant releases came from Xiaowan (PRC, 526 million cubic meters), and Nam Ngum 1 (LAO, 105 million cubic meters).

Most Impactful Dams

River Levels  In the Golden Triangle along the Thai-Lao border, river levels are lower than normal. From Vientiane, river levels are at normal or slightly higher than normal levels for this time of year.

Chiang Saen Gauge Stung Treng Gauge

Weather & Wetness Most of the basin remains drier than normal for this time of year; however, drought conditions observed in previous weeks are slightly improving throughout the basin. The headwaters of the Mekong remained wetter than normal as well as patches along the Vietnam-Laos border area. Vietnam’s delta continues to be wetter than normal for this time of year. The Mekong basin was warmer than normal for this time of year, but not as extreme as in previous weeks.