International Rivers

🔴 Communities are enduring unusual flooding & droughts from upstream #dams on the #Mekong. Concerns are being sidelined.

Countries «need to advocate for changes in the way dams are operated to reduce impacts on the river & communities downstream»@paideetes

Asia

How Mekong River is turning into a new flashpoint in Indo-Pacific

Date 12.08.2021

Author David Hutt

Experts view the South China Sea as the most probable area of conflict in Asia. Their attention now has also turned to the Mekong River, where the economic and environmental stakes are arguably much higher.

China, one of Laos’ closest political allies and trade partners, is a key investor in Mekong River projects

For several years, US politicians have adopted the Japanese slogan of a «free and open Indo-Pacific,» calling for international law to apply over disputes in the South China Sea, where China is accused of acting aggressively.

Earlier this month, during the East Asia Summit foreign ministers’ meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for «a free and open Mekong.»

The latest slogan points to the Mekong River’s importance to peace and stability in mainland Southeast Asia, as well as China’s alleged ambition to gain geopolitical advantage from riparian disputes.

The Mekong River begins in China’s Tibetan Plateau and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia before exiting in Vietnam’s delta region. Hundreds of hydropower dams have been built up and down the river since 2010, and most of them are in China and Laos.

Laos, the poorest member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc and a landlocked state without much of a manufacturing sector, has recorded a 7% GDP growth on average for much of the past decade, thanks in large part to exporting hydropower-generated electricity.

Environmental catastrophe overshadowed by political agenda

However, dam-building has resulted in environmental destruction and accusations of forced evictions and land-clearing across the region.

When part of a dam collapsed in southern Laos in 2018, at least 40 people were killed and hundreds of households in the region were affected by flooding.

The Mekong River begins in China’s Tibetan Plateau and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia before exiting in Vietnam’s delta region

Thailand and Vietnam now also say they are experiencing unusual flooding and droughts because of damming on upstream parts of the Mekong.

Pianporn Deetes, the Thailand and Myanmar campaigns director for International Rivers, a global NGO, argues that an increased American and Chinese interest in Mekong has made the debate «more politicized and polarized.»

The concerns of riparian communities, she adds, are «being overshadowed or sidelined by political agenda.»

Critics say that China could threaten to intentionally hold back much of the river’s water upstream, producing extreme droughts in Thailand and Vietnam, as a way of pressuring Bangkok and Hanoi to accept Beijing’s geopolitical aims. In late July, Chinese hackers allegedly stole data on the Mekong River from Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry servers.

On the other hand, increased funding from US and China-led initiatives to governments and institutions in the region has «contributed to greater public attention and debate on issues critical to the future of the Mekong River and its people,» Deetes told DW.

Can the US and China cooperate?

On August 2, US Secretary of State Blinken co-hosted the second ministerial meeting of the Mekong-US Partnership, created in 2020 to expand the work of a previous forum, the Lower Mekong Initiative. The Beijing-led Lancang-Mekong Cooperation forum was formed in 2016.

«The US emphasis on transparency and inclusivity as part of its Mekong-US Partnership is enabling productive outcomes in the Mekong region and decreasing China’s accountability gap in its own backyard,» said Brian Eyler, director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia program.

There are even claims that despite the conflict, the Mekong River could be one issue on which Beijing and Washington see eye-to-eye. «Environmental conservation of the Mekong is actually a major area of alignment for both the US and China,» Cecilia Han Springer, a senior researcher with the Global China Initiative at the Global Development Policy Center, told DW.

Tensions within Southeast Asia

Susanne Schmeier, an associate professor in Water Law and Diplomacy at IHE Delft, identifies two main tensions between China and the Southeast Asian states, and among the Southeast Asian states themselves.

«The data shows that Thailand is the biggest investor in hydropower dams in Laos, building four times as many dams as China,» said Eyler. Watch video 03:18

Mekong River threatened by dams and climate change

Thailand is also the biggest importer of electricity generated by Laos’ hydropower dams. But there is already an excess of power generated by the dams in Laos, so Vientiane has «a tall order ahead» to find markets for that power, Eyler added. «It would be wise to pause future dam building until this supply-demand problem is worked out.»

Deetes said, «As a key financier and buyer of electricity from Mekong mainstream and tributary dams in Laos, Thailand has a key role to play to reduce impacts on the Mekong and its people.»

In February 2020, the Thai government ended the China-led Lancang-Mekong Navigation Channel Improvement Project over its possible social and environmental impacts.

In January this year, Thai authorities rejected the new technical report issued by the Chinese developers of the $2 billion (€1.7 billion) Sanakham dam project in Laos, arguing it didn’t assess the environmental impact of downstream communities, mostly those in Thailand itself.

«Thailand should be more proactive in addressing the impacts of the Lancang cascade, including working with other Mekong countries, to advocate for the changes in the ways the dams are operated to reduce impacts on the river and communities downstream,» said Deetes.

Economic dependence on China

But how much influence other Southeast Asian states have over Laos remains in doubt. The bigger problem is whether Laos, as the so-called battery of Asia, could wean its economy off reliance on hydropower investments and exports.

Unlike its neighbors, Laos doesn’t have a large low-cost manufacturing sector. Its exports to the US and the European Union are negligible. The EU imported just €300 million worth of goods from Laos last year, according to European Commission data. Instead, the Lao economy remains heavily dependent on hydropower exports, mining and farming.

Watch video 07:27

Cambodia: Dam threatens Mekong’s dolphins

«I do not think Laos is likely to divert from its current strategy as the export of hydropower to neighboring countries provides a reliable and promising source of income,» said Schmeier.

Neither, Schmeier adds, does Laos’ government have many incentives to diversify its economy. The development of dams provides various opportunities for «additional personal income» for government officials and other actors, she noted.

And China, one of Laos’ closest political allies and trade partners, is a key investor in these projects.

Concerns have been expressed that Laos’ considerable debt to China puts it at risk of Beijing’s alleged «debt-trap diplomacy,» which could force it to sell important state assets away to China in lieu of repayments.

In 2020, a Chinese firm effectively took control of Laos’ domestic electricity grid.

After cataloguing the 100 largest hydropower projects in the Mekong region, Springer found that most of the hydropower projects in Laos plan to export up to 90% of electricity generated abroad. However, she adds, other renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar, «can meet much of Laos’ electricity demand with similar revenue streams and less capital investment than if the current hydropower pipeline was built.»

https://www.dw.com/en/how-mekong-river-is-turning-into-a-new-flashpoint-in-indo-pacific/a-58842727

International Rivers

Asia October 19, 2020

By: Ayesha DSouza, South Asia Program Coordinator & guest writer Melanie Scaife

Mayalmit Lepcha grew up listening to the sounds of the Rongyoung River, which flows past her village in Dzongu, in the Indian state of Sikkim. This tiny state lies in the heart of the Himalayas between Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet, and is a place of exceptional natural beauty. It is also home to the Indigenous Lepcha people, who have lived here for centuries.

“In our culture, in our tradition, in our rituals, we recite the name of this river, the river Rongyoung, a tributary of the Teesta, which originates from Mount Kanchenjunga,” Mayalmit explains. “As animist nature worshipers, we believe we are created from the clear pure mountain snow of Mount Kanchenjunga, and that after we die, our soul travels back through river Rongyoung. That is why the river is sacred for the Lepcha community.”

A river silenced

It’s hard to fully comprehend then, how it must feel for Mayalmit and her community to witness a river so revered fall silent, the once free-flowing Teesta and its tributaries now choked by hydropower developments built over the past 30 years, among them two mega-dams in Sikkim State, the 1,200 MW Teesta Stage III and the 510 MW Teesta Stage V. Mayalmit lists the projects off one by one; all, she says, are an act of desecration for the Lepcha people—and environmentally unsustainable.

Mayalmit Lepcha after a meeting with the women from the Self Help Group (SHG) at Hee-Gyathang, Lower Dzongu. Mayalmit is from this area and works closely with these strong women | Photo credit: International Rivers

“We only have an eight-kilometre stretch of free-flowing river remaining in the whole of Sikkim—this is the only part where we can we hear the Teesta River flowing. This is where my house is, where my village is,” Mayalmit says. It’s also where a new dam, the 520 MW Teesta Stage IV, is slated for construction, and Mayalmit is doing all within her power to stop it.

“The river Teesta, it cannot raise its voice—it has been choked—but I can.”

Affected Citizens of Teesta

For the past 14 years, Mayalmit has worked tirelessly as a volunteer for an organization called the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), which is fighting to protect the Lepcha’s ancestral lands from hydropower projects—developments they consider a major threat to their environment, community, and culture.

“I started my activism to fight these dams early. I was in my first year of college, and we had a hunger strike, we protested peacefully, but many college students were arrested. It was such a difficult time, but I don’t feel any regrets. All this struggle we have had to go through has really made me strong.”

Mayalmit at the Women and Rivers Congress 2019 in Nepal. Mayal was one of 2 Lepcha women representing her story and the struggle of the Lepcha’s to keep the River Teesta flowing freely. | Photo Credit: International Rivers.

Vocal community opposition—including from ACT—is credited with successfully stopping four hydropower projects from going ahead in Sikkim. Mayalmit believes this is cause for hope, not just for the Lepchas, but for everyone whose lives are connected to the Teesta River, which winds its way through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal before entering Bangladesh, where it joins the Jamuna (Brahmaputra) River, and emptying into the Bay of Bengal.

“The dams’ impacts are going to affect everyone in Sikkim, West Bengal, Bangladesh. We live in a very fragile environment and to have some 30 dams in a small area, experts tell us this is beyond the carrying capacity of the river, and that we will have a disaster in the future.”

The natural world out of balance

These disasters have already begun, with the people of Sikkim witness to several flash floods, landslides and earthquakes, which are increasing in frequency and severity. Mayalmit attributes many of these “natural” disasters to the concentration of hydropower dams on the Teesta, which have aggravated the river’s existing propensity for flash flooding and further destabilized the surrounding valley, which was already prone to landslides. Add to this the impacts of climate change in the region—rapidly melting glaciers, less snowfall, drying streams and springs—and it’s a stark reminder, if one were needed, that the natural world is out of balance.

Mayalmit is fearful of what is to come, but she draws strength from her spiritual beliefs and her community, particularly her fellow women, who have been instrumental in the campaign to keep the Teesta River free-flowing.

“Let the river bless them”

“In my village, the women are united and the strongest in Dzongu. If we organize a meeting or protest, the women will work in advance, cutting fodder for their cattle for two, three days, then putting it in a store so that they can attend. I think we underestimate the women folk in the village, they have more information, are more aware of what will happen when the dams come—for me that’s inspiring.”

Women representatives from all over Sikkim at the piloting of the Community Water Governance Curriculum by International Rivers and Affected Citizens of Teesta. | Photo Credit: International Rivers

“My mother is an inspiration for me, too. She does not tell me to get married, or get a government job, to settle down. She sees what I am doing is for the whole present and future generation. She and her friends, they weren’t educated—we are the first generation to get an education, so they want us to be their voice.”

While education has been a contributing factor to women’s rising participation in the campaign to save the Teesta, Mayalmit also believes it comes down to perseverance and a willingness to fight. “We’ve been jailed, we’ve been victimized, the government terrorizes us. We are not afraid of anything to save our holy land, Dzongu. In India, in the largest democracy in the world, we have freedom of speech, so we will always try to fight back.”

And so, the fight goes on, and the future feels full of uncertainty—but of hope and possibility, too. “The Rongyoung River will give inspiration to our Lepcha poets again, who have written songs and stories about the river,” muses Mayalmit. “Let the river bless them. Our ancestors have passed on the river to us and it’s our responsibility to leave the river undisturbed, to keep it safe, and pass it on to the next generation.”

Picture of the Teesta and Rongyoung with the sacred Mt. Kanchenjunga in the distance at Dzongu, North Sikkim. | Photo Credit: Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT)

International Rivers’ South Asia program is part of the regional Transboundary Rivers of South Asia program. Supported by the Government of Sweden, TROSA is a collaboration with Oxfam, IUCN, ICIMOD and many local organizations that works on some of the more complex rivers in South and Southeast Asia: the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna river systems, including their tributaries such as the Teesta, and Asia’s last last free flowing river, the Salween. TROSA works to promote improved cross-border governance of these transboundary rivers, support women’s leadership, and advance energy alternatives to large hydropower.

Featured image: Youth activists representing the Affected Citizens of Teesta Movement sit by the River Rongyoung, a sacred and major tributary of the River Teesta | Photo by Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT)

Speaking up for a silenced river