Mekong Dam Monitor (Update for January 20 - February 2, 2025)

 

Update for January 20 - February 2 Notable changes on the Mekong in the last two weeks. Visit the Monitor home for more, including Burmese, 中文, Khmer, ພາສາລາວ, ไทย, and Tiếng Việt translation.

SPOTLIGHT Mekong Floodpulse above normal for late January The Mekong’s flood retreat into the dry season is back on track with about 8,400 square kilometers of flooding remaining in the Mekong basin. If temperatures are not too hot in the coming months, then dry season agricultural production could be somewhat normal in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Where is the water? Last week dams throughout the basin released a large cumulative total of 1.306 billion cubic meters of water. This is a relatively large number for this time of year, although in certain weeks later in the dry season individual dams, particularly those in China, could release more than this. More than half of the dam releases last week came from Xiaowan (PRC, 765 million cubic meters). Other significant releases came from Nam Ngum 1 (LAO, 155 million cubic meters), Theun Hinboun Expansion (LAO, 109 million cubic meters), and Ubol Ratana (THA, 104 million cubic meters).

Reservoir Storage Over Time

River Levels River levels throughout the basin are slightly higher than normal.

Chiang Saen Gauge Stung Treng Gauge

Weather & Wetness The Mekong’s headwaters were exceptionally wet from snow melt or precipitation last week, and this excess water is causing some dams in China to have net increases to their reservoir storage which is unusual for this time of year. Above average wetness extended through most of the upper basin, while northern Laos was drier than normal for this time of year. The rest of the lower basin was wetter than expected, with the exception of parts of Cambodia.