Mekong dams

Hydropower projects in earthquake-prone regions across Asia have increased the risk of dam disasters, reservoir collapse, and huge floods. Is Luang Prabang next?

Five years after the Xayaburi dam in northern Laos began operations, the cost of Mekong hydropower is becoming ever more clear.

The Mekong Delta of Vietnam stands to be most in danger in the time of accelerating and intersecting impacts from climate change and hydropower. 

Policymakers have clung to the fiction that damage to fish populations from hydropower projects can be avoided – with devastating consequences.

Hun Manet also announced the official cancellation of the $1.5 billion, 700-megawatt coal power plant.

In a new report, the World Wildlife Fund claims that dam developments, often hailed as an economic boon, could end up weighing down economic growth.

The China-backed Pak Lay hydropower project is just one of nine dams that the Lao government has planned for the Mekong River.

Analyzing Chinese dams in Laos provides insight into the local origins and drivers of the BRI, particularly along China’s borderland regions.

Firsthand glimpses of how dam construction changed the river over the course of eight years.

The fall in water levels has again raised questions about the activities of Chinese dam engineers upstream.

The Sanakham dam is one of seven mega-dams that the landlocked country is planning, in defiance of environmental and economic sense.

The move is a welcome development for downstream nations, but only underlines China's strategic hold over the crucial waterway.