Water levels on the Mekong River, which flows through China and five other countries before emptying into the South China Sea, have dropped once again after Beijing revealed it was testing equipment at one of its 11 dams in the upper reaches of the vital waterway.
The Mekong River Commission (MRC), an inter-governmental body made up of representatives from Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, said on December 31 that China would be testing its equipment, warning of a potential 50 percent drop in water outflows.
According to the MRC’s forecast, water levels could fall by as much as 70 centimetres in Thailand between January 6 and January 10, and up to 25 centimetres in Cambodia between January 12 and 14.
In Thailand, the lack of water has had severe consequences, said Pianporn Deetes, Thailand campaign coordinator for international rivers.
“In Chiang Khong, northern Thailand bordering Laos during the first week of this year, locals witnessed sudden water fluctuation; water in the Mekong increased then sharply dropped within a couple of days,” she told Al Jazeera in an email. “I was there [on Tuesday] and found that some local farmers lost their crops due to non-seasonal water fluctuation.”
Not only crops were affected, she said.
“Riverbank erosion is also severe. The water fluctuation also affected migratory fish that depend on the seasonal flood-drought circle of the river. Less fish, less or no income for fisherfolks. They told me this kind of damage has been ‘more of the same’.”
The Mekong is the world’s 12th-longest river, stretching 4,350 kilometres (2,703 miles) from China in the north to Vietnam in the south.
Despite the worrying fluctuations and its impact on the river, experts said they were encouraged that China – for the first time – made its plan known beforehand, extending the hope of better coordination over the Mekong with countries downstream.
2020 Al Jazeera Media Network