Chinese, Lao Giant Hydro Power Plants Forecast to Seriously Hurt Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta, the largest granary and biggest aquatic pond in Vietnam, will seriously be affected by a dozen of giant hydropower plants which have been built by China and Laos in the upper part of the Mekong River, experts said at a seminar in Vietnam’s southern city of Long Xuyen on Nov. 10. According to the People and Nature Reconciliation (PanNature), the organizer of the seminar, six Chinese hydro dams and other ten to-be-built hydropower plants of Laos and Cambodia will make the Mekong Delta unsuitable for rice cultivation and aquaculture. PanNature said the Lao government started building of Xaybury in 2012. It announced to construct Don Sahon in late 2015 and prepares for the third giant hydropower project named Pak Beng in the Mekong River. China, Laos and Cambodia have not respected the Mekong River Convention but prioritize their national interests, PanNature said. Dr. Le Anh Tuan, vice director of the Research Institute on Climate Change under the Can Tho University said hydropower plants from China, Lao and Cambodia will affect rice cultivation and fisheries in the Mekong Delta. The delta will no longer be key producer of rice and fisheries for the world. The foreign dams will affect biodiversity in the Mekong Delta as well as livelihood of 20 million of people living in the delta which has four million hectares of fertile soil. Due to the bad impacts of the Chinese, Lao and Cambodian dams, the delta aquatic output will drop by 440,000 tons annually, Dr. Tuan calculated. Ms. Ame Trandem from the International Rivers said the hydropower dams in the upper Mekong River will affect the livelihood of 40 millions of people along the river. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon – Saigon Economic Times Nov 11)