No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Tradeoff analysis between electricity generation and ecosystem services in the Lower Mekong Basin
Abstract
The Mekong River is the largest freshwater fishery and the third most bio-diverse river system in the world. Two of 11 planned mainstream hydropower projects, Xayaburi and Don Sahong, are nearly completed and a third project proposal, Pak Beng, has been submitted by the Lao PDR government for consideration. This paper builds on previous studies and examines the tradeoffs (between water use, food security supply and energy production) for the proposed mainstream hydropower projects in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB). The paper concludes that the forecast loss of capture fisheries, sediment/nutrients and social mitigation costs measured as Net Present Value (NPV at 10% discount rate) are greater than the benefits from electricity generation, improved irrigation and flood control. The paper also forecasts huge negative economic impacts for Cambodia and Vietnam in contrast to previous Mekong River Commission's (MRC) conclusions that all countries will benefit from hydropower development. The paper recommends reassessing the economic impacts of hydropower development using full environmental cost accounting. It also recommends that a new LMB energy strategy be developed taking into account less hydropower income than previously anticipated, updated forecasts for LMB power demand and anticipated technology developments for improved energy efficiency & renewable energy (especially solar which is now competitive with hydropower).
... The LMB is endowed with a wide variety of terrestrial and aquatic natural resources. The Mekong River Commission (2018) estimated that the river network system is home to 1148 fish species, many of which undertake long-distance migration from the flood plains of the Tonle Sap Lake or the Mekong Delta, to major tributaries of the upper part of the basin during the annual flood pulse caused by the monsoon rain of the wet season ( Fig. 2.2c) (Baran, 2006;Ziv et al., 2012;Intralawan et al., 2018). This phenomenon has led to productive inland wild capture fisheries (Kummu and Sarkkula, 2008;Cosslett and Cosslett, 2018;Halls and Hortle, 2021), an important source of dietary protein of the basin population of over 60 million people (Mekong River Commission, 2018;Chan et al., 2020). ...
... Applying an exploratory scenario storyline approach, narratives associated with the driving forces and critical uncertainties of hydropower development in the LMB were identified and evaluated ( Fig. 2.5 and Appendix D of SI). These drivers and uncertainties were identified based on prior studies where both negative and positive impacts of hydropower development of different types and sizes have well been explored and discussed (Fan et al., 2015;Zhang et al., 2016;Intralawan et al., 2018;Williams, 2019;Laborde et al., 2020;Trung et al., 2020;Atkinson, 2021), with many concluded that developing hydropower on the river mainstream could lead to severe and irreversible environmental and social impacts (Le et al., 2020;Trung et al., 2020;Yoshida et al., 2020). Drivers allow the establishment of various assumptions used for deriving distinct future alternative narratives that can be implemented to help the LMB Countries achieving their goals of ensuring access to affordable and clean energy, while pursuing ecologically sustainable development. ...
... Our findings are of concern in light of Intralawan et al. (2018) study that analysed trade-offs between electricity generation and ecosystem services, postulating that planned hydropower projects will not only change further the river's flow regime, but they will also alter fish habitat and migration passage (Fig. 2.2c) resulting in an annual loss of 725,000 tons of capture fisheries (Fig. 2.2a). Further, the loss of river connectivity from these hydropower operations is projected to have great ecological implication to migratory freshwater fish of the Mekong River, with Ziv et al. (2012) forecasting a net change of −51.3% of migratory fish biomass. ...
Transboundary river basins across developing countries, such as the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB), are challenging to manage given frequent divergences on development and conservation priorities. Driven by needs to sustain economic performance and reduce poverty, the LMB countries are embarking on significant land use changes in the form of more hydropower dams, to satisfy growing energy demands. This pathway could lead to irreversible changes to the ecosystem of the Mekong River, if not properly managed. Given the uncertain environmental externalities and trade-offs associated with further hydropower development and operation in the LMB, this research develops four plausible scenarios of future hydropower operation, and assesses their likely impact on streamflow and instream total suspended solids and nitrate loads of the Mekong River. The findings suggest that further hydropower operations on either tributary or mainstream could result in annual and wet season flow reduction between 11 and 25% while increase dry season flows by 1 to 15%, when compared to a business-as-usual scenario. Conversely, hydropower operation on both tributary and mainstream could result in dry season flow reduction between 10 and 15%. Both instream TSS and nitrate loads are forecasted to reduce under all three scenarios by as much as 78 and 20%, respectively, compared to the business-as-usual one. These effects are predicted to magnify under extreme climate conditions with dry season flow, TSS, and nitrate levels reduced by as much as 44, 81 and 35%, respectively, during a projected extreme dry climate condition, but less severe under improved operational alternatives. With further hydropower development in the LMB being highly unavoidable, these findings can inform effective transboundary management pathways for balancing electricity generation and protection of riverine ecology, water and food security, and people livelihoods.
... Thailand is a major hydropower importer from Lao PDR, while Vietnam imports power from Cambodia and China [9]. Hydropower development may be a promising path for power-importing countries to generate energy and economic growth [10], although cost-benefit analyses suggest that power-exporting countries like Cambodia and Vietnam will lose ecosystem services and gain little in hydropower benefits [11]. The 3S Basin drains southern Lao PDR, Vietnam's Central Highlands, and northeastern Cambodia and has an outsized importance for Mekong River fisheries and ecology. ...
... We re-viewed abstracts and included publications that focused on economic and aquatic/riparian environmental tradeoffs of current, existing, or proposed dams in the 3S basin or Tonle Sap-Mekong River-3S Basin habitat corridor. We used a snowball method to include publications that focused on human-environmental tradeoffs in the LMB, but were not returned in our search results, typically because they did not include derivations of Sesan, Srepok, Sekong, or 3S in their title or keywords (e.g., [7,11,22]). ...
... Greenhouse gas emissions studies analyzed emission fluxes from reservoirs [44]. Lastly, the nutrients category included research on nutrient loadings or transformations from dams [11]. ...
In Mekong riparian countries, hydropower development provides energy, but also threatens biodiversity, ecosystems, food security, and an unparalleled freshwater fishery. The Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok Rivers (3S Basin) are major tributaries to the Lower Mekong River (LMB), making up 10% of the Mekong watershed but supporting nearly 40% of the fish species of the LMB. Forty-five dams have been built, are under construction, or are planned in the 3S Basin. We completed a meta-analysis of aquatic and riparian environmental losses from current, planned, and proposed hydropower dams in the 3S and LMB using 46 papers and reports from the past three decades. Proposed mainstem Stung Treng and Sambor dams were not included in our analysis because Cambodia recently announced a moratorium on mainstem Mekong River dams. More than 50% of studies evaluated hydrologic change from dam development, 33% quantified sediment alteration, and 30% estimated fish production changes. Freshwater fish diversity, non-fish species, primary production, trophic ecology, and nutrient loading objectives were less commonly studied. We visualized human and environmental tradeoffs of 3S dams from the reviewed papers. Overall, Lower Sesan 2, the proposed Sekong Dam, and planned Lower Srepok 3A and Lower Sesan 3 have considerable environmental impacts. Tradeoff analyses should include environmental objectives by representing organisms, habitats, and ecosystems to quantify environmental costs of dam development and maintain the biodiversity and extraordinary freshwater fishery of the LMB.
... While Lao hydropower export projects of the 1990s were supported by capital and expertise from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (Lebel et al., 2005;Mirumachi & Torriti, 2012) to support the Lao government's ambitions to become the "Battery of Southeast Asia", in the early 2000s the projects that were suspended with the onset of the 1997 Asian financial crisis were mostly taken on by Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese companies (Middleton, 2016), reflecting a shift in hydro-financing regimes (Souvannaseng, 2022). These developments are situated within the growing and powerful discourse of the waterenergy-food nexus (Hensengerth, 2015;Keskinen et al., 2015; and electricity governance, particularly in relation to Thailand's state utility Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's (EGAT) role in driving power trade in the Lower Mekong Basin (see Baird & Quastel, 2015;Intralawan et al., 2018;Kaisti & Käkönen, 2012;Marks & Zhang, 2019;Middleton & Dore, 2015;Simpson, 2007;Tran & Suhardiman, 2020). ...
... However, these hydrological models have arguably created an "anti-politics" of knowledge production that simplify complex ecosystems, obscure the politics behind decisionmaking, serve member state interests by downplaying the risks associated with development interventions, and exclude more participatory forms of knowledge production taking place at the local level (ibid.). This form of knowledge production has also arguably promulgated narratives that downplay the critical importance of the Mekong River Basin's wild-capture fisheries in supporting regional livelihoods and economies (Friend et al., 2009), and has been criticized for contributing towards the chronic under-valuation of the Mekong's ecosystem services (Intralawan et al., 2018). As Mirumachi and Torriti (2012) argue, non-market values, particularly those held by communities, and public involvement in cost-benefit analyses around hydropower development must be key components of distributional justice, as the inclusion of both will create different outcomes as opposed to analyses that only account for market values. ...
The transboundary Mekong River spans China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and provides critical ecosystem services that support millions of people across the river basin. However, the exploitation of its water resources for state‐led development, especially in the realm of hydropower development, not only threatens the livelihoods and food security of communities across the river basin, but also reveal the challenges of governing the Mekong River as a transboundary commons. In focusing on how environmental injustice is produced through hydropower development and the power dynamics within hybrid governance arrangements in the Mekong River Basin, this paper seeks to examine how a grounded perspective of environmental justice may be understood in this context by linkages between the principles of environmental justice and the Mekong literature in three ways. First, the production of, and challenges against distributive injustice in the Mekong River Basin must engage with a strong tradition of scalar analysis in the field of transboundary water governance, particularly in understanding how a politics of scale underlies contestations around the Mekong River. Second, the principle of justice as recognition can be situated within a body of literature that interrogates the politics of knowledge that runs through Mekong water governance, although the co‐production of knowledge types must be acknowledged. Finally, a recent body of literature questioning the legality of dam‐building and public participation around Mekong hydropower dams are closely tied to issues of procedural justice, and reveal the importance of recognizing plurality in ideas around transparency and accountability.
This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water Governance
Human Water > Water as Imagined and Represented
Human Water > Value of Water
... For countries in the Global South, in particular, exploring economic interests from water is often preferred by state actors, while considerations of the ecosystem sometimes become of secondary importance [17][18][19]. For some, water exists as an integrated part of the ecosystem, which represents an extended system that includes other natural systems such as wildlife habitat, and biodiversity [20,21]. In contrast, others are concerned over livelihood security as millions of residents rely on fisheries for their livelihood [22], especially the livelihood of the poor [23]. ...
... The benefits of water benefit sharing include political benefits related to water management, such as the reduction of political costs due to the resolution of international conflicts or the enhancement of international collaboration.20 The benefits of water benefit sharing include indirect benefits beyond the water sector, such as promoting infrastructure construction, growth in trade, and so on.21 Among the various benefits gained from water benefit sharing, environmental benefits to the water resources should form the basis of other types of benefits. ...
This study aims to identify and examine the different perception of benefit sharing in the sharing of international rivers in China, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Using the Q-Method, this study undertakes an in-depth analysis of the views of 35 experts of the field on hydrodiplomacy, international water law, benefit sharing and ecological benefits compensation. The results of the quantitative and qualitative analysis help to innovatively identify three streams of views among the participants, respectively described as supporters, idealists and pragmatists, each displaying strong geographical association to the three Asian regions. Supporters from Southeast Asia and pragmatists from China share much common ground on issues such as the types of benefits to share in international rivers, potentially providing the conceptual foundation for international cooperation. Idealists from South Asia prioritize and emphasise the role and importance of environmental benefits and ecological protection, yet differ greatly from the others on practical issues such as the inclusion of direct economic benefits and ecological compensation for using resources. This study contributes to the understanding of the theory and practice of benefit sharing in international rivers, as well as providing new perspectives to the interpretation and practice of hydrodiplomacy in Asian regions.
... At the same time, because of the southwest monsoon, the LMRB has a unique dry season (from November to April) and rainy season (from June to October), with basically no rain in the dry season and up to 80-90% of the annual rainfall in the rainy season, making the water resources in the LMRB highly variable seasonally, with more than 75% recharge in the rainy season, which is highly susceptible to serious flood and drought disasters. Although the construction of dams and reservoirs in the LMRB may mitigate the risk of natural disasters and improve the natural conditions for agricultural and fishery development, it also has a series of impacts on the ecological environment and rural production and life downstream and is highly controversial among all parties [11,13]. ...
... In terms of food, nearly 66% of the population in the Mekong River Basin works in fisheries-related production, and 60% of the local population's protein intake comes from fish [71]. The reduction of local migratory fish populations due to the creation of dams has affected the primary fishing industry [13,72], and although aquaculture is gradually being promoted by the government, it is an important source of protein for the local poor. Hydroelectricity provides energy for mechanized equipment such as combines and rice milling machinery, which have greatly increased local food productivity in the past [73]. ...
With the process of poverty eradication and economic growth, hydropower development becomes increasingly important because of its huge potential advantages in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin. However, the complex topography and rich resource endowments in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin bring a variety of potential risks and uncertainties in hydropower development, which has an important impact on the sustainable livelihood of farmers. There is an urgent need for countries in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin to systematically assess hydropower projects, especially their impact on the sustainable livelihoods of farmers. Based on the systematic analysis of relevant literature, this study established a collaborative framework of hydropower development and farmers’ sustainable livelihood, including theoretical framework, indicator system and model structure. The purpose is to explore the interaction mechanism of energy and water resources utilization, food security and sustainable livelihood of farmers in hydropower development. The findings can provide scientific and technological support for the Belt and Road Initiative, poverty reduction and sustainable development in the river basin.
... Mathias , with consequent negative impacts on Mekong food security, traditional livelihoods, and revenue losses across multiple economic sectors for millions of Mekong inhabitants. For example, ecosystem service valuations have shown that revenue losses in fisheries alone, with up to 50 percent losses of native stocks, could far outweigh hydropower economic gains through the loss of fish habitat, biodiversity, and subsequent catch levels (Intralawan et al. 2018b). ...
... Impacts from the most recent wave of hydropower development in the Lancang area have considerably modified river discharges and have caused a marked increase in dry season water levels as far as Central Cambodia in Kratie, including a 41-74% increase during March-May 2014. Other studies have suggested additional impacts of dams on fish migration connectivity, aquatic primary production, habitat suitability, and nutrition value (Arias, Cochrane, and Elliott 2014;Intralawan et al. 2018b;Ziv et al. 2012a;. ...
... Mathias , with consequent negative impacts on Mekong food security, traditional livelihoods, and revenue losses across multiple economic sectors for millions of Mekong inhabitants. For example, ecosystem service valuations have shown that revenue losses in fisheries alone, with up to 50 percent losses of native stocks, could far outweigh hydropower economic gains through the loss of fish habitat, biodiversity, and subsequent catch levels (Intralawan et al. 2018b). ...
... Impacts from the most recent wave of hydropower development in the Lancang area have considerably modified river discharges and have caused a marked increase in dry season water levels as far as Central Cambodia in Kratie, including a 41-74% increase during March-May 2014. Other studies have suggested additional impacts of dams on fish migration connectivity, aquatic primary production, habitat suitability, and nutrition value (Arias, Cochrane, and Elliott 2014;Intralawan et al. 2018b;Ziv et al. 2012a;. ...
... As listed on the right-hand side of Fig. 3, PySedSim offers flexibility in exploring reservoir operations. Numerous studies have noted the potential value of optimization in contributing to the ongoing multi-objective river basin development dialogue globally (Sabo et al., 2017;TNC, 2016;Ziv et al., 2012;Opperman et al., 2015;Grill et al., 2014Grill et al., , 2015Roy et al., 2020;Cronin et al., 2016;Kondolf et al., 2018;Schmitt et al., 2018;Wild et al., 2019a;Schmitt et al., 2019;Intralawan et al., 2018;Song et al., 2020). PySedSim has been developed to support the flexible representation of candidate reservoir operations and simulation of their performance. ...
... To strike more balanced performance across ecological, energy, food, and other potential objectives in these contexts will require re-thinking the traditional approach to hydropower planning in at least two respects. First, rather than focusing on planning one dam at a time, long-term hydropower planning should more strategically consider the cumulative interactions and impacts of all existing and planned dams (Sabo et al., 2017;TNC, 2016;Ziv et al., 2012;Opperman et al., 2015;Grill et al., 2014;Cronin et al., 2016;Kondolf et al., 2018;Schmitt et al., 2018;Wild et al., 2019a;Schmitt et al., 2019;Intralawan et al., 2018;Song et al., 2020;Grill et al., 2015;Roy et al., 2020). This could produce positive outcomes, such as building first those dams that marginally produce the most power relative to their negative (e.g., ecological) impacts. ...
This paper introduces PySedSim, an open-source, object-oriented, Python-based, daily time step river basin simulation screening model for flow, sediment, and hydropower in networks of reservoirs and river channels. The model enables users to explore representations of four key concerns relevant to the selection and evaluation of alternative reservoir configurations: 1) management approaches to improve the passage of sediment through and around reservoirs to avoid storage capacity loss and downstream ecological impacts; 2) search for flexible and adaptive reservoir operating policies designed to achieve multiple objectives; 3) alternative design features such as dam gates, which are necessary to enable ecologically-focused reservoir features; and 4) uncertainties associated with hydroclimatic drivers and sediment processes. PySedSim is intended to support deliberative decision-making and design processes. We highlight PySedSim's functionality by demonstrating its use in a real decision context focused on identifying siting, design, and operation alternatives for the proposed Sambor mega Dam in Cambodia. Software availability Name of Software: PySedSim Description: PySedSim is an open-source, object-oriented, Python-based daily time step river basin simulation model for flow, sediment, and hydropower production in networks of reservoirs and river channels. It is intended to predict in relative terms the spatial and temporal accumulation and depletion of sediment in river reaches and in reservoirs under different reservoir operating and sediment management policies. The model can be run in both stochastic (Monte Carlo) and deterministic modes. It also offers integrated support for coupling with an external evolutionary optimization algorithm to identify tradeoffs among operating policies designed to perform well across a suite of user-defined objectives.
... Forest management can not only improve multiple ecosystem services (ESs) (e.g., timber production and soil retention) at the local scale (Dai et al., 2017;Wang et al., 2019), but can also influence downstream water-related ESs by changing the quantity and spatiotemporal distribution of water flow, such as the water provisioning service for downstream residents, irrigation-based food production service for farmers, and the hydropower production for energy companies (Ford et al., 2011;Intralawan et al., 2018). In addition, water, energy, and food form the crucial material foundation for human survival. ...
... The impacts of dam construction have been analysed in the literature using different approaches (see review by Briones-Hidrovo et al., 2020), including the ecosystem services framework (Intralawan et al., 2018), measuring ecological loses (Li et al., 2015), using ecological-economic assessment methods (Fanaian et al., 2015), and life-cycle analysis (Bidoglio et al., 2019). Ecosystem services, which form a key source of NCP 1 are often assumed to be provided with certainty and their stochastic nature is rarely taken into account, with the exception of flood risk analysis. ...
... Reservoirs provide substantial social, ecosystem and economic benefits, as dams transform rivers or lakes into regulated water resources (e.g., Postel and Carpenter, 1997;Graf, 2001;Lehner et al., 2011;Sawakuchi et al., 2015). Cost-benefit analyses frequently document tradeoffs associated with dam construction vis-à-vis natural regulating, provisioning, supporting, and cultural ecosystem services (e.g., WCD, 2000;Intralawan et al., 2018;Wild et al., 2019). For example, dams built on free-flowing rivers may lead to shifts in aquatic primary production, degrade biodiversity as habitats are lost, or affect fisheries, in addition to altering water and sediment budgets and generating hydropower (e.g., Graf, 2005;McCartney, 2009;Song et al., 2019). ...
Jackson Lake supplies valuable cultural and provisioning ecosystem services to the Upper Snake River watershed in Wyoming and Idaho (western USA). Construction of Jackson Lake Dam in the early 20th century raised lake level by~12 m, generating an important water resource supporting agriculture and ranching, as well as tourism associated with Grand Teton National Park. Outlet engineering drastically altered Jackson Lake's surface area, morphology, and relationship with the inflowing Snake River, yet the consequences for nutrient dynamics and algae in the lake are unknown. Here, we report the results of a retrospective environmental assessment completed for Jackson Lake using a paleolimnological approach. Paleoecological (diatoms) and geochemical datasets were developed on a well-dated sediment core and compared with available hydroclimate data from the region, to assess patterns of limnological change. The core spans the termination of the Little Ice Age and extends to the present day (~1654-2019 CE). Diatom assemblages prior to dam installation are characterized by high relative abundances of plankton that thrive under low nutrient availability, most likely resulting from prolonged seasonal ice cover and perhaps a single, short episode of deep convective mixing. Following dam construction, diatom assemblages shifted to planktic species that favor more nutrient-rich waters. Elemental abundances of sedimentary nitrogen and phosphorous support the interpretation that dam installation resulted in a more mesotrophic state in Jackson Lake after~1916 CE. The data are consistent with enhanced nutrient loading associated with dam emplacement, which inundated deltaic wetlands and nearshore vegetation, and perhaps increased water residence times. The results of the study highlight the sensitivity of algal composition and productivity to changes in nutrient status that accompany outlet engineering of natural lakes by humans and have implications for water resource management.
... Experts recognize that the mainstream conservation community has largely failed to acknowledge and to explicitly address this challenge (i.e., inadequate conservation efforts) in the same way that it has embraced challenges facing habitats such as forests and oceans (Albert et al., 2021;Harrison et al., 2018). Meanwhile, freshwater biodiversity and the communities that depend on freshwater habitats continue to lose-lose in favor of short-term or narrowly focused development activities (such as those that rely on or result in poorly planned water infrastructure, excessive water abstraction and massive pollution loads) and environmental and social mitigation strategies (Dudgeon, 2019;Intralawan et al., 2018). There has never been more awareness of the pressing environmental crisis, but freshwater biodiversity continues to be overlooked and undervalued (WWF, 2021). ...
Freshwater habitats are experiencing two to three times the rate of biodiversity loss of terrestrial and marine habitats. As status quo actions within the conservation community are not reversing the downward trajectory for freshwater biodiversity, we propose four actions to shift the narrative such that freshwater biodiversity is no longer invisible and overlooked, but rather explicitly recognized, valued, and protected: (1) Reshape our relationship with freshwater habitats and biodiversity, (2) Appreciate indigenous knowledge systems relating to freshwater habitats, (3) Connect science more directly to action, and (4) Elevate freshwater habitats as a unique “domain” that requires explicit recognition in conservation planning (RACE). We highlight roles that both freshwater scientists and the wider conservation community can play in implementing the four actions such that the “RACE” can be won. We outline the issues with the public perception of fresh water, and focus on recommendations to change this perception, which is a prerequisite to environmental actions taking place and having the public, political, and institutional will to act. Conservation leaders on all levels and the media can do a better job of creating the social context that is required for more meaningful freshwater conservation action. We propose four actions that should enact changes in the social context that surrounds fresh waters: (1) Reshape our relationship with fresh water, (2) Appreciate indigenous knowledge systems relating to fresh water, (3) Connect science more directly to action, and (4) Elevate fresh water as a unique “domain” that requires explicit recognition in conservation planning (RACE).
... S n , t + 1 = S n , t + (in n , t + r n − 1 , t − r n ) × Δt S n _ ≤ S n , t ≤S n q n _ ≤ q n , t ≤q n nm n _ ≤ nm n , t ≤nm n (2) wheren is the reservoir, including Xiaowan, Nuozhadu and Jinghong; t is the period, which equals ten days; p e is the electricity price, the value of which adopted in this study is 0.05 33 For agricultural bene ts (BA), the widely applied water production function proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and farmland water balance are used to quantify these bene ts. Six typical crops are selected in each country, which cover nearly 90% of the total harvest area, i.e., Thailand: rice (50%), rubber (15%), sugarcane (7%), cassava (6%), maize (5%) and oil palm fruit (4%); Laos: rice (56%), maize (12%), vegetables (10%), coffee (5%), cassava (4%), and sugarcane (2%); ...
Transboundary river cooperation provides an effective pathway to maintain regional security and sustainable development; however, its implementation is a pressing and prominent concern due to lack of appropriate compensation measures and effective incentive strategies. Here we develop a dual water-electricity cooperation (DWEC) framework that combines water and electricity trading to meet the often-conflicting demands of participating countries. The results from the Lancang-Mekong River Basin reveal that substantial benefits in both economic and social aspects can be achieved through coupling regional water and electricity trades. Economic benefits can be obtained by expanding cooperation space and thereby greatly improving the willingness of countries to participate in basin-wide cooperation. Electricity trading plays a key role in loss compensation for water exporters, ensuring no loss for any party and maximizing basin-wide benefits. Furthermore, the DWEC improves regional water use equality, especially in water shortage periods when there is severe competition among water users. The proposed cooperation framework provides a viable way to implement cooperation in transboundary river basins.
... The majority of the research, on the other hand, is concerned with the strategy for preventing sediments from entering the dam reservoir. They are typically performed to estimate soil erosion, soil nutrients, organic matter, fertility, and crop yield reduction (Bertol et al., 2007;Gulati and Rai, 2014;Intralawan et al., 2018). Despite all of the precautions taken, high annual volumes of sediment entering the dam reservoir are still reported, and the challenges of sediment management in providing solutions to reduce the effects of degradation remain. ...
Improper use of chemical fertilizers has led to land degradation. Organic crops, which are farmed using organic fertilizers to reduce the negative environmental effects, are considered an alternative solution to develop the ecosystem health and improve the soil. There are different sources of organic fertilizers. This research aimed to study the feasibility of reusing the sediments of the Latian Dam reservoir in Iran as an organic fertilizer to revitalize agricultural soil on a commercial scale. The correlation of elements to sediments was first demonstrated using the regression method. The Mann-Kendall trend test was then used to examine the data trend. The use of a time series method to predict the five-year sediment amount and its NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) content allowed for the creation of a sample year for future research. Finally, the economic value of the elements was calculated using the replacement cost method, and cost-benefit analyses were also carried out. The results indicated that the reuse of dam reservoir sediments not only leads to considerable profits but also makes it possible to save foreign exchange by restricting imports and increasing the inflow of foreign exchange through the export of organic fertilizers.
... This is a critical goal, as currently up to two-thirds of the region's energy supply is expected to come from fossil fuels through 2040 (Zhongming 2019). Finally, an increased and continued emphasis on renewable energy sources that are not hydropower (that also has many negative environmental impacts on fishing, sedimentation, and other functions of the Mekong River (Intralawan 2018)) was recommended to Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, as these regions are less energy secure (Zhongming 2019 planning to ensure efficient crops yields across generations and decreasing the amount of land degradation across the region. This planning needs to be carried out on both the national and sub-national level. ...
Experiential Learning is a useful tool to prepare negotiators and politicians in the art of diplomacy and can have a unique value in Science Policy and Diplomacy training. This workshop review summarizes two EL activities undertaken in a University of Arizona SPD course. The first was a semester-long project in conjunction with graduate and undergraduate students from a UA climate change adaptation course and the United States Department of State’s Diplomacy Lab. For this project, students researched issues and potential policies to address climate change effects on water, energy, and food resources in the Lower Mekong river basin. The second activity was the Mercury Game, a negotiation simulation that challenged students to represent interests of various countries to tackle an international environmental issue. Student survey results and other feedback demonstrate that EL is a valuable tool for SPD education and preparation for practice. Insights into how faculty, staff and students can facilitate EL in coursework are also discussed. This paper is authored by the student participants and documents their outcomes and perceptions after completing these activities.
... Such a program allows fluctuations to be quantified, then gauged against the natural variability inherent within aquatic systems. In this context, standardized monitoring can detect many prominent aquatic issues as they relate to inland fisheries (Ngor et al. 2018), undocumented harvest (Fluet-Chouinard et al. 2018, and hydropower generation (Intralawan et al. 2018; Box 1 of He et al. 2017). All are extremely relevant to Bhutan and its rivers. ...
Climate change is now the most influential driver of ecosystem change, with critical impacts on freshwater systems as a substantial result. These have rapidly pushed numerous fish species towards extinction, much more so than in any other group. Conservation planning has been largely ineffective, due to limited data on global fish distributions/movements. These are slowly emerging in Bhutan, but effective data collection programs are hindered by both economy and topography. Given this, how can the conservation of Bhutanese aquatic systems be effectively promoted? Here we outline a time-tiered strategy that: (a) Uses existing albeit imperfect data to generates a predictive fish species distribution model (SDM); (b) Suggests a standardized long-term monitoring program be used to collect additional data; and (c) Anticipates future climate impacts by formulates proactive aquatic management strategies. We demonstrate this approach using Golden Mahseer (Tor putitora), a fish of great cultural importance in Bhutan but also one with a conservation focus as both a 'flagship' and 'umbrella' species (whose protection also benefits other species). We first identify favorable environmental parameters for Golden Mahseer by integrating historic and contemporary records with life-history characteristics. The probabilities of favorable habitats (≤1,000m elevation) were identified within Bhutan by first parsing GIS databases then superimposing those data onto a map of the seven major river drainages. In conclusion, our predictive map is but a starting point as SDMs must be validated and improved through acquisition of additional data. We thus recommend Golden Mahseer as the focal species in the development of a standardized, long-term monitoring program for Bhutan. Its status as a flagship/umbrella species would also promote opportunities to similarly quantify the distributions of other native fishes-both must immediately occur to successfully mitigate the impacts of climate change on Bhutan's aquatic ecosystems.
... With rapid population growth and economic development, rivers are becoming less capable of meeting societal needs, thus the pressure placed on riverine ecosystems is increasing. More than 98,000 reservoirs and dams have been launched on the Chinese rivers in the last 70 years to improve their functionality and obtain additional ecological resources [2]. Humanity has benefited greatly from river development and utilization. ...
Rivers provide a variety of ecosystem services to humans. However, human interference significantly impairs the rivers’ functions and poses a threat to river health. To increase the understanding of riverine health in Tibet, China from 2011 to 2014, this study used the Lhasa River as a case study and established a multiple indicator system incorporating both natural and social functions of the river. Weights of riverine health indicators were calculated using the entropy method. Moreover, to evaluate the coordination and development of natural and social functions, a coordinated development degree model was developed. The results showed that the entropy weights of natural and social functions in the target layer were 0.67 and 0.33, respectively. Natural functions, social functions, and riverine state index all decreased from upstream to downstream, and marked as “good” during the entire study period. In 2012, the coordinated development degree improved from previously “moderately coordinated” to “highly coordinated”. Furthermore, the development of natural and social functions was synchronized throughout the study period. Further analysis revealed that the construction of hydraulic projects had a significant effect on the hydrological regime, resulting in an increase in social functions of the river. Therefore, the coordinated development degree model is shown to provide new insight into assessing riverine health in terms of both natural and social functions.
... There are seven operating hydroelectric dams in the Upper Mekong Basin: the first one, the Manwan Hydroelectric Dam, began operating in the Lancang (Mekong) River in Yunnan Province, China, in 1993 [6], and the last one, the Jinghong Hydroelectric Dam, began operating in 2009. In the Lower Mekong Basin, a total of 11 dams have been proposed [7]. Of these, two were completed in 2019: the Xayaburi Hydroelectric Dam in Lao PDR and the Don Sahong Hydroelectric Dam in Cambodia (Figure 1). ...
Dam construction for the provision of hydropower and a stable water supply poses a major threat to freshwater biodiversity. Water fluctuation due to dam management has adverse effects on local people and biodiversity in downstream areas, including sandbar-nesting birds. The aim of this research was to determine the effect of water levels controlled by upstream dams on the breeding success of two sandbar-nesting birds, the little ringed plover, Charadrius dubius, and little pratincole, Glareola lacteal, along the Mekong River in Bueng Kan Province, Thailand. During January–May 2018, we found 160 active nests of only two species, the little ringed plover (n = 26 nests, 288 exposure days) and the little pratincole (n = 134 nests, 890 exposure days). Their nest success rates were 19.49 ± 7.52% and 5.54 ± 1.61%, respectively. Predation was a major cause of nest failure for both species (n = 82), followed by flooding (n = 44). We found a significantly increased probability of nest flooding when the water level was higher than when the nest was initiated for those located closer to the water, particularly during March and April, when water levels fluctuated. Our results indicate that dams threaten sandbar-nesting species.
... Reservoirs and dams are essential infrastructures in water management that alters the natural river flows to provide services such as flood control, hydroelectricity generation and irrigation (Intralawan et al., 2018;Zhu et al., 2020). Largely mandated by the Flood Control Act of 1950, more than 98,000 reservoirs and dams have been constructed in China with a total water capacity of around 932 km 3 (Statistic Bulletin on China Water Activities, 2018). ...
Reservoirs and dams are essential infrastructures in water management, thus information of their surface water area (SWA), water surface elevation (WSE), and reservoir water storage change (RWSC), is crucial for understanding their properties and interactions on hydrological and biogeochemical cycles. However, knowledge of these reservoir characteristics is scarce or inconsistent at national scale. Here, we introduce comprehensive reservoir datasets of 338 reservoirs in China, with a total of 470.6 km3 storage capacity (50 % Chinese reservoir storage capacity). Given the scarcity of publicly available gauged observations and operational applications of satellites for hydrological cycles, we utilize multiple satellite altimetry missions (SARAL/AltiKa, Sentinel-3 A and B, and CroySat-2) and Landsat satellite data to produce a comprehensive reservoir dataset on the WSE, SWA, and RWSC during 2010–2020. Validation against gauged measurements of 93 reservoirs demonstrates the relatively high accuracy and reliability of our remotely-sensed datasets: (1) Across gauge comparisons of RWSC, the median statistics of CC, NRMSE, and RMSE are 0.76, 15 %, and 0.035 km3, with a total of 75 % validated reservoirs (70 of 93) having good RMSE from 0.002 to 0.35 km3 and NRMSE values smaller than 20 %. (2) Comparisons of WSE retracked by four satellite altimeters and gauges show good agreement. Specifically, percentages of reservoirs having good and moderate RMSE values smaller than 1.0 m for CryoSat-2 (validated in 30 reservoirs), SARAL/AltiKa (8), Sentinel-3A (25), and Sentinel-3B (25) are 90 %, 88 %, 64 %, and 76 % respectively. By taking advantages of four satellite altimetry missions, we are able to densify WSE observations across spatiotemporal scales. Statistically, around 85 % validated reservoirs (53 of 62) have RMSE values below 1.0 m, while 63 % reservoirs (39 of 62) have a good data quality with RMSE values below 0.6 m. Overall, our study fills such a data gap with regard to comprehensive reservoir information in China and provides strong support for many aspects such as hydrological processes, water resources, and other studies. The dataset is publicly available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5812012 (Shen et al., 2021).
... This would impose external environmental and social costs on riparian countries (Lu et al., 2014;Wu, 2016;Grafton et al., 2019;Hirsch, 2020;Tran and Suhardiman, 2020;Yong, 2020;McCartney and Brunner, 2020). The external costs from losses of capture fisheries and sediments, biodiversity reduction and social impacts resulting from the development of 11 hydropower dams in the Lower Mekong Basin have been estimated to be about US$18 billion in present value terms (Intralawan et al., 2018). Hydro dams in the Mekong also pose risks to the livelihood of millions of people (McCartney and Brunner, 2020). ...
This paper reviews progress towards the establishment of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Power Grid (APG) and the key barriers to multilateral cross‐border electricity trade in ASEAN. An analysis across political, technical, institutional, economic, environmental, social and time dimensions is employed. Using a policy sequencing framework, the paper concludes it remains premature for ASEAN to pursue a strong form of power sector market integration on account of the sizeable barriers that currently remain, especially economic and institutional barriers. Focusing on bilateral power purchase agreements and large‐scale investments in solar and wind power over 2022–2030 would help to develop stronger foundations for ASEAN to make steps towards deeper regional integration in the electricity sector in subsequent years, while also being consistent with renewables adoption goals.
... Kibria et al. [36] estimated the monetary and non-monetary value of ES in a protected forest in Cambodia. Intralawan et al. [37] examined the trade-offs between electricity generation and ES in the lower Mekong Basin. A study of ES indirectly related to the EIA context was performed by Shoyama et al. [38], who examined the approaches used in the evaluation of ES and found that modeling and biophysical indicators were the most commonly used methods, while the geographical distribution and the practical use of models remained limited. ...
The concept of ecosystem services (ES) could help Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) contribute toward sustainability goals. This study aimed to systematically analyze the ES contents contained in Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) to ascertain whether they included appropriate data as a tool for project implementation in line with sustainability practices. The EISs were analyzed using the review criteria used to assess the criteria of good EIA practice, and these criteria were then integrated and linked to the concept of ES. The results indicated that the treatment of environmental impact studies from the perspective of impact assessment practice was advantageous; however, opposing results of the integration of ES in environmental impact studies were also found. The quality of EISs that reflect ES primarily depended on the project type. The highest quality of content to support ES was for baseline information. The contents in response to biodiversity and the relationship among sustainable indicators in the baseline stage, including the assessment of biodiversity, especially its loss and gain, and the identification of measures focusing on mitigation hierarchy, were inadequate. Consequently, these constraints affect the use of impact assessments as a tool to promote project activities in sustainable ways. An approach to integrate ES in EIAs was developed based on the findings of this study.
... Hydropower benefit is estimated by hydropower generation, and is subject to water balance, storage, turbine discharge, and capacity constraints as follows: V power;n ¼ p c X i K × q n;i × h n;i × Δt × α 1 ð1Þ subject to s n;iþ1 ¼ s n;i þ ðin n;i þ r n−1;i − r n;i Þ × Δt ð2Þ s n ≤ s n;i ≤ s n q n ≤ q n;i ≤ q n nm n ≤ nm n;i ≤ nm n where i = period, and 10 days is a calculated period in this study; V power;n = hydropower benefit of reservoir n (millions USD); p c = electricity price, and the value adopted in this study is 0.05 (USD per kwh) (Intralawan et al. 2018); K = efficiency coefficient, and the value is 8.5 for large reservoirs; in n;i = inflow for reservoir n in period i (m 3 =s); r n;i = total water release from reservoir n in period i, including flow through turbine and spill (m 3 =s); h n;i = net water head for reservoir n in period i (m); s n;i = storage for reservoir n in period i (m 3 ); s n and s n = the minimum and maximum storage for reservoir n, respectively (m 3 ); q n;i = flow through turbine for reservoir n in period i (m 3 =s); q n and q n = minimum and maximum flow through turbine for reservoir n, respectively (m 3 =s); nm n;i = capacity for reservoir n in period i (kw); nm n and nm n = firm capacity and installed capacity, respectively (kw);t = time step (s); and α 1 = unit conversion coefficient (dimensionless). ...
Basin-wide cooperation is an approach to resolve water disputes and improve the resilience of transboundary river basins to extreme droughts under climate change. However, the effectiveness of cooperation among various stakeholders has disputes in moving from theoretical research to practical application. This paper aims at developing basin-wide water resources management strategies to improve cooperation effectiveness in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin (LMB). An interdisciplinary physically based integrated hydroeconomic water system model is developed for strategy evaluation, and is shown to have good performance in reproducing historical events. First of all, we find that agricultural benefits in downstream countries are primarily affected by hydrological conditions, without significant impacts from reservoir construction. Second, the cooperative action—three-phase emergency water supply—by upstream reservoirs discharge can alleviate the agricultural drought of downstream countries, and it is further improved by better spatial and temporal water reallocation among different stakeholders. Last but not least, we characterize the cooperation effectiveness under different hydrological conditions by two indicators (i.e., incremental benefit and cooperation efficiency). They show two opposite trends: from extremely high-flow years to extremely low-flow years, the incremental benefit brought by basin-wide cooperation increases by nearly six times, whereas the cooperation efficiency (measured by how many times benefits are gained by downstream from upstream unit loss) decreases by 80 percent. This study provides guidance and support for transboundary basin cooperation and sustainable management.
... But damns are not coming with no drawback, as Siciliano et al. (2016) wrote referring to the study case of one of the major damns in Cambodia: Kamchay dam. Possible drawbacks are caused by the impact on the access to natural resources, like non-timber forest products, fish, and land, in addition to the negative livelihood impacts on local communities (Intralawan et al., 2018;Siciliano et al., 2016). ...
In the last decade, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has endorsed green growth for the country, with the introduction of the National Strategic Plan on Green Growth 2013-30. Between the key goals set in the plan, there is the concept of energy efficiency capable of offering efficient usage of energy with low cost based on modernized technology and green technology. In this discussion paper, we offer an overview of the urbanization process, which is largely unplanned and unregulated, while offering an outline of the state-of-the-art solutions that Cambodian policymakers should consider, for supporting the vision and the goals introduced in the National Strategic Plan on Green Growth 2013-30. Possible solutions are represented by green urban areas, alternative pavements, green roofs (GR), specific insulating technologies, and construction approaches, capable to reduce the cooling load in the urban areas, an element that represents one of the major components of urban energy consumption. These solutions would allow Cambodian cities to have more efficient utilization of energy while reducing their demand, thus contributing to preserving the environment from the drawbacks of energy production, such as air pollution, climate change, water pollution, thermal pollution, and solid waste disposal.
... Of the thirty-four studies that were eliminated, eleven had only passing mentions of, or did not include, one or more of the food, energy, or water systems in the methodology or analysis (Abdalla et al., 2007;Anderson et al., 2020;Fekete, 2019;Gurdak et al., 2017;Little et al., 2015;Montgomery et al., 2012;Saladini et al., 2018;Samimi et al., 2020;Veijalainen et al., 2019;Wang, 2013;Zimmerman et al., 2019). Thirteen were eliminated because they were of riverine locations which did not consider any acute hazards (Bekchanov & Lamers, 2016;Dombrowsky & Hensengerth, 2018;Intralawan et al., 2018;Jalilov et al., 2018;Keskinen et al., 2015;Kleinschroth et al., 2021;Mamatova et al., 2016;Martin-Gorriz et al., 2014;Melloni et al., 2020;Payet-Burin et al., 2019;Rasul et al., 2019;Shi et al., 2020;X. T. Zeng et al., 2019). ...
Non-technical summary
Coastal communities face environmental challenges that put food, energy, and water systems at risk. Although highly interdependent, it is unknown the extent to which coastal resilience research has considered interactions among food–energy–water systems. Twenty peer-reviewed articles were identified that focused on these systems and coastal resilience. Although a nexus approach was not employed universally, these studies most commonly addressed interactions among these systems related to acute hazards. They consistently acknowledged the influence of energy and transportation systems upon the others. As such, planners should incorporate linkages across all three systems during coastal resilience planning especially in relation to acute hazards.
Technical summary
Coastal communities strive for resilience in the face of an ever-growing suite of threats by planning and preparing for numerous uncertain futures. Food, energy, and water systems are highly interconnected and essential to the well-being of coastal communities. However, it is unknown the extent to which coastal resilience research has included food–energy–water nexus considerations. This study used a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed research articles and identified 20 studies that focused on food, energy, and water systems as related to coastal resilience. Results revealed four main findings: (1) the food–energy–water nexus approach was most commonly applied to coastal resilience in the study of US locations and in the context of acute hazards, (2) a direct food–energy–water or other nexus approach was directly employed by only half of the studies, however, all highlighted the relevance of systems interconnections in the context of coastal resilience, (3) the energy system was shown to impact every system to which it was connected, and (4) the transportation system was also shown to impact every system to which it was connected, which suggests that the food–energy–water nexus should be expanded to include transportation systems.
Social media summary
Coastal resilience and food–energy–water nexus literature synthesis finds interconnected systems considerations relevant to resilience.
... In addition, renewable energy and storage would help reduce environmental and social costs associated with on-river hydropower. These external costs from losses of capture fisheries and from sedimentation, biodiversity reduction and social impacts resulting from the development of 11 mainstream hydropower dams in the Lower Mekong Basin were estimated at about US$18 billion [60]. It would also reduce the risk of insufficient water availability for dam operations in the dry season due to climate change-induced droughts in the Mekong region in recent years. ...
Rapid increases in electricity consumption in Southeast Asia caused by rising living standards and
population raise concerns about energy security, affordability and environmental sustainability. In
this study, the role of short-term off-river energy storage (STORES) in supporting 100% renewable
electricity in Southeast Asia is investigated. Large-scale integration of off-river, closed-loop pumped
hydro storage is a new approach to providing system flexibility facilitating high penetration of
variable renewable energy in electricity systems. The features of STORES include large storage
potential, high technology maturity and a long service life. Energy generation, storage and
transmission are co-optimised based on long-term, high-resolution chronological energy data. A
comparative analysis is undertaken between the scenarios with and without an intercontinental
Asia-Pacific Super Grid. The results show that, with support provided by STORES, the Southeast Asian
electricity industry can achieve very high penetration (78%-97%) of domestic solar and wind energy
resources. The levelised costs of electricity range from 55-115 U.S. dollars per megawatt-hour based
on 2020 technology costs. In the Super Grid scenarios, the costs change by -4% to +7% while the
storage requirements reduce by 50%-89%. Renewable energy supported by STORES can be a cost�effective solution for Southeast Asia’s energy transition, delivering long-term, substantial
environmental benefits.
... McIntyre (2017) positions water as the fundamental element in natural systems, highlighting that the goal of EA is to ensure the protection and preservation of shared watercourses by addressing a range of issues, especially the protection of water quality by reducing river pollution. Others see water as an integral part of ecosystems but insist on formulating EA as an extended system inclusive of other natural systems such as wildlife habitats and biodiversity (Dugan, 2010;Intralawan et al., 2018;Kummu & Sarkkula, 2008). According to this formulation of EA, the management principles of water resources should be slightly tilted toward the conservation of ecosystems vitality and thus take on a wider range of objectives, including the management of land coverage and biodiversity, which need to be considered apart from the conservation of water quantity and quality (Lackey, 1998;Wen et al., 2020). ...
In the context of international environmental law and International Water Law (IWL), the Ecosystem Approach (EA) has become a source of heated debate. In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the negative impacts that human activities have on freshwater ecosystems. Accordingly, the protection of such ecosystems has been identified as integral to ensuring the good governance of water resources. This article reviews key areas of research around the conceptualization and application of EA. First, we adopt a holistic approach to the concept of EA when applied to existing environmental challenges, before exploring the issues that arise when applying EA to water-based ecosystems. Next, we assess the effectiveness of implementing EA in the management of environmental issues linked to transboundary water contexts. Our findings indicate that International Environmental Law, which applies a sector-specific approach, poses challenges for the instrumental implementation of EA because the latter requires a holistic approach to resource management. Furthermore, in transboundary water contexts the competing needs of river-basin countries are also identified as key factors complicating the implementation of EA. The article concludes with recommendations for policy makers and scholars.
This article is categorized under:
• Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness
• Engineering Water > Planning Water
• Human Water (WBAA) > Water Governance
Abstract
While the Ecosystem Approach (EA) holds great potential in the management of transboundary rivers, this advanced review examines the difficulties it encounters in practice, especially in the Global South with a case study of Central Asia, and suggest a holistic approach to overcome such obstacles.
... Similarly, improved water quality assessment could help detect pollution from non-point sources. Water quality degradation from dams should be considered with hydropower objectives so that environmental costs cost-benefit analyses of dams can be correctly estimated [1,95]. Moreover, transparency in reservoir storage and releases is needed and is starting to be estimated by the Mekong Dam Monitor platform [96]. ...
The Mekong River is one of the world’s largest rivers, unparalleled in terms of its biodiversity and ecosystem services. As in other regions, sufficient water quality is required to support diverse organisms, habitats, and ecosystems, but in the Mekong region, water quality has not been well studied. Based on biological and physical-chemical data collected over the last two decades, we evaluated spatial-temporal water quality of the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) using biotic and abiotic assessment metrics. We found that during the 2000s, water quality in the LMB was unpolluted, with “very good” metrics for tributary rivers and “good” status for mainstem rivers. However, during the last decade, water quality has been degraded in the LMB, particularly near Vientiane City; the Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok (3S) Rivers; the Tonle Sap Lake system; and the Mekong Delta. Water quality degradation likely corresponds to flow alteration, erosion, sediment trapping, and point and non-point wastewater, which have occurred from rapid hydropower development, deforestation, intensive agriculture, plastic pollution, and urbanization. Regular biomonitoring, physical-chemical water quality assessment, transparent data sharing, and basin-wide water quality standards or management are needed to sustain water quality to support biodiversity and ecosystem function in the LMB.
... On the other hand, hydropower projects would almost certainly result in environmental challenges. Many studies have indicated, for example, that the proposed hydropower projects would cause significant changes in river hydrology, potentially jeopardizing local livelihoods and well-being by depleting capture fisheries, sediment, and nutrient flows [2][3][4][5][6]. However, a common challenge often faced by hydropower projects is the issue of cost and time overruns. ...
This paper assesses the economic benefits of 57 World Bank Group-sponsored hydropower dam plant investments. Hydropower dams are among the main sources for producing electricity and the largest renewable source for power generation throughout the world. Hydropower dams are often a lower-cost option for power generation in Clean Energy Transition for addressing global climate change. Despite its conspicuous aspects, constructing hydropower dams has been controversial. Considering the World Bank’s long history as the largest hydropower development financier, this study investigates its performance in supporting hydropower dams. The outcomes of this study apply to the wider hydropower development community. Of the projects in this study, 70% experienced a cost overrun, and more than 80% of projects experienced time overruns, incurring potential additional costs as a result. Despite the high cost and time overruns, this hydropower portfolio of dams produced a present value of net economic benefits by 2016 of over half a trillion USD. Based on our findings, the evaluated hydropower portfolio helped avoid over a billion tonnes of CO2 for an estimated global environmental benefit valued at nearly USD 350 billion. The projects’ additional environmental benefits raise the real rate of return from 15.4% to 17.3%. The implication for hydropower developers is that the projects’ assessment should consider cost and time overrun and factor them into the project-planning contingency scenarios. There is a considerable benefit for developing countries to exploit their hydropower resources if they can be developed according to industry practices and international standards. The case for developing hydropower may be stronger when considering its climate benefits. The net economic benefits of hydropower can be even higher if there is a greater effort to manage cost and time overruns.
... The assessment of ecosystem services is relevant for the correct measurement of benefits and environmental impact in the regions where the hydroelectric plants are installed. Intralawan et al. (2018), in the evaluation of the potential benefits and environmental costs resulting from the installation of the hydroelectric projects in the Mekong river (Vietnam), considering the ecosystem services in the region, concluded that the forecast of loss with fishing, discharge of sediments in the river, and loss of nutrients for local biodiversity outweigh the benefits of generating electricity and controlling floods. In the view of these authors, these facts -if analysed in anticipation -could definitely have stopped the very installation of the hydroelectric projects. ...
... 武江是广东省北江的一级支流，发源于湖南省临武县三峰岭，地跨湖南、广东两 省。武江干流全长 260 km，流域集水面积 7097 km 2 ，其中广东境内河长 168 km，流域面 积 3617 km 2 ，总落差 123 m。武江干流梯级水电站中，乐昌峡水利枢纽 (以下简称乐昌 峡) 作为干流上的控制性工程，以下至韶关市共分六级开发，分别为张滩、富湾、长 安、七星墩、塘头及溢洲水电站 (图 1) ，均为低水头径流式电站，水头 5~7 m。目前， 除 塘 头 正 在 建 设 外 ， 其 他 梯 级 工 程 均 已 投 入 使 用 ， 已 投 产 运 行 的 电 站 总 装 机 容 量 20.86 万 kW，年均发电量为 6.5 亿 kW · h。梯级开发情况详见表 1 [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] 。 图 1 研究区地理位置 [3] 2015 年 提出的当量因子表的基础上，调整生 物量因子 [21] 、支付能力系数 [22] ，修正 武江流域单位面积生态系统服务当量 系数。1 个标准单位生态系统服务价 值当量定义为 1 hm 2 耕地粮食产量经 济价值的 1/7 [23,24] Table 2 Index system for evaluating the impact of hydropower development on river ecosystem services 实地调研 鲁传一等 [26] ，欧阳志云等 [29] 实地调研 欧阳志云等 [29] 肖建红等 [30] ，杨肃昌 [31] ，2016 年价格 通过贴现率贴现，贴现率按 4%计算 Chen 等 [7] Li 等 [8] Yang 等 [34] 陈敏等 [35] 陈晓舒等 [36] 莫创荣等 [9] 魏国良等 [10] 赵小杰等 [11] 鲁传一等 [26] 裴厦 [37] 等 肖建红 [38] 杨远祥 [39] Intralawan等 [28] 杨肃昌等 [31] ...
... Over the decades, the basin planning exercises have manipulated the duration and starting times of infrastructure scenarios; thereby including or excluding projects from 'baseline' conditions, and thus the size of apparent impacts on flow changes (Lebel 2013). Discursive and material scalar strategies are a critical feature of the nexus insecurities and trade-offs in the Lower Mekong (Pittock et al. 2016;Intralawan et al. 2018). ...
The notion of a water–energy–food (WEF) nexus was introduced to encourage a more holistic perspective on the sustainable development of natural resources. Most attention has been directed at identifying potential synergies and trade-offs among sectors that could be addressed with improved technologies and management. The governance of the WEF nexus more broadly has received comparatively little attention, and the importance of scale in space and time has been largely ignored. Inspired by scholarship on multi-level governance in individual sectors, this paper identifies four scale-related governance challenges in the WEF nexus, namely: (1) scalar fit , which arises when planning and operating procedures work at different levels along the scales of space and time in different sectors; (2) scalar strategies , wherever the levels at which actors have influence and in which action takes place are contested and negotiated; (3) institutional interplay , where rules and norms in different sectors influence each other at different levels; (4) scalar uncertainty , arising out of the complexity of multi-level and multi-scale interactions. The relevance of these four challenges is illustrated with case studies from developed and developing countries. These examples show the importance of considering multiple levels and scales when assessing the likely effectiveness of WEF nexus governance mechanisms or proposals. The cases underline the need to pay close attention to issues of power, contestation, and negotiation, in addition to the analysis of institutional design. Thus, this paper recommends that nexus governance efforts and proposals be scrutinized for scale assumptions. The four identified challenges offer a suitable starting point for diagnosis.
... The emphasis on development with economic goals has an impact on ecology damage and social problems [39]. Ecosystem-based fisheries management tools emphasizes more on ecological indicators and indicators related to humans (social and institutional) to be the main things in sustainable management and to place economic indicators afterward [40]. Many experts believe that development with economic objectives can lead to a resource curse that ultimately threatens the sustainability of the resource itself [41,42]. ...
This study aims to compile a composite index from economic, social, ecology and institutional dimensions of sustainable capture fisheries. Use of primary and secondary data. Different methods of data analysis used in this study include priority analysis, key component analysis (PCA), analysis of structural equation modeling (SEM), and analysis of flag modeling. The results show that the main priorities in capturing fisheries development were determined by the social and ecology dimensions. The sensitivity analysis results indicate that all indicators on the institutional level have a higher sensitivity compared with other indicators. Thus, Indonesia's current development of catch fisheries is in the "moderate" sustainability status. In order to attain sustainable fisheries production in the future, it must take significant account of ecology and social indicators and issues.
... Over the decades, the basin planning exercises have manipulated the duration and starting times of infrastructure scenarios; thereby including or excluding projects from 'baseline' conditions, and thus the size of apparent impacts on flow changes (Lebel 2013). Discursive and material scalar strategies are a critical feature of the nexus insecurities and trade-offs in the Lower Mekong (Pittock et al. 2016;Intralawan et al. 2018). ...
The notion of a water–energy–food (WEF) nexus was introduced to encourage a more holistic perspective on the sustainable development of natural resources. Most attention has been directed at identifying potential synergies and trade-offs among sectors that could be addressed with improved technologies and management. The governance of the WEF nexus more broadly has received comparatively little attention, and the importance of scale in space and time has been largely ignored. Inspired by scholarship on multi-level governance in individual sectors, this paper identifies four scale-related governance challenges in the WEF nexus, namely: (1) scalar fit, which arises when planning and operating procedures work at different levels along the scales of space and time in different sectors; (2) scalar strategies, wherever the levels at which actors have influence and in which action takes place are contested and negotiated; (3) institutional interplay, where rules and norms in different sectors influence each other at different levels; (4) scalar uncertainty, arising out of the complexity of multi-level and multi-scale interactions. The relevance of these four challenges is illustrated with case studies from developed and developing countries. These examples show the importance of considering multiple levels and scales when assessing the likely effectiveness of WEF nexus governance mechanisms or proposals. The cases underline the need to pay close attention to issues of power, contestation, and negotiation, in addition to the analysis of institutional design. Thus, this paper recommends that nexus governance efforts and proposals be scrutinized for scale assumptions. The four identified challenges offer a suitable starting point for diagnosis.
Pahl-Wostl, C., Gorris, P., Jager, N. et al. Scale-related governance challenges in the water–energy–food nexus: toward a diagnostic approach. Sustain Sci (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00888-6
The Mekong River basin (MRB) is a transboundary basin that supports livelihoods of over 70 million inhabitants and diverse terrestrial-aquatic ecosystems. This critical lifeline for people and ecosystems is under transformation due to climatic stressors and human activities (e.g., land use change and dam construction). Thus, there is an urgent need to better understand the changing hydrological and ecological systems in the MRB and develop improved adaptation strategies. This, however, is hampered partly by lack of sufficient, reliable, and accessible observational data across the basin. Here, we fill this long-standing gap for MRB by synthesizing climate, hydrological, ecological, and socioeconomic data from various disparate sources. The data— including groundwater records digitized from the literature—provide crucial insights into surface water systems, groundwater dynamics, land use patterns, and socioeconomic changes. The analyses presented also shed light on uncertainties associated with various datasets and the most appropriate choices. These datasets are expected to advance socio-hydrological research and inform science-based management decisions and policymaking for sustainable food-energy-water, livelihood, and ecological systems in the MRB.
Reservoirs and dams are essential infrastructure in water management; thus, information of their surface water area (SWA), water surface elevation (WSE), and reservoir water storage change (RWSC) is crucial for understanding their properties and interactions in hydrological and biogeochemical cycles. However, knowledge of these reservoir characteristics is scarce or inconsistent at the national scale. Here, we introduce comprehensive reservoir datasets of 338 reservoirs in China, with a total of 470.6 km3 storage capacity (50 % Chinese reservoir storage capacity). Given the scarcity of publicly available gauged observations and operational applications of satellites for hydrological cycles, we utilize multiple satellite altimetry missions (SARAL/AltiKa, Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B, CroySat-2, Jason-3, and ICESat-2) and imagery data from Landsat and Sentinel-2 to produce a comprehensive reservoir dataset on the WSE, SWA, and RWSC during 2010–2021. Validation against gauged measurements of 93 reservoirs demonstrates the relatively high accuracy and reliability of our remotely sensed datasets. (1) Across gauge comparisons of RWSC, the median statistics of the Pearson correlation coefficient (CC), normalized root mean square error (NRMSE), and root mean square error (RMSE) are 0.89,
11 %, and 0.021 km3, with a total of 91 % validated reservoirs (83 of 91) having good RMSE from 0.002 to 0.31 km3 and NRMSE values smaller than 20 %. (2) Comparisons of WSE retracked by six satellite altimeters and gauges show good agreement. Specifically, the percentages of reservoirs having good and moderate RMSE values smaller than 1.0 m for CryoSat-2 (validated in 30 reservoirs), SARAL/AltiKa (9), Sentinel-3A (34), Sentinel-3B (25), Jason-3 (11), and ICESat-2 (26) are 77 %, 75 %, 79 %, 87 %, 81 %, and 82 %, respectively. By taking advantages of six satellite altimeters, we are able to densify WSE observations across spatiotemporal scales. Statistically, around 96 % of validated reservoirs (71 of 74) have RMSE values below 1.0 m, while 57 % of reservoirs (42 of 74) have good data quality with RMSE values below 0.6 m. Overall, our study fills such a data gap with regard to comprehensive reservoir information in China and provides strong support for many aspects such as hydrological processes, water resources, and other studies. The dataset is publicly available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7251283 (Shen et al.,
2021).
The Lancang-Mekong River basin (LMRB) is facing blooming water resources infrastructure development, long-term transboundary conflicts and trade-offs between economic goals and ecosystem services provision. Yet, most studies optimizing the pathway towards sustainable infrastructure operation have lacked multi-sectoral and cross-country perspectives. Here, we quantify how and to what extent transboundary cooperation generate economic and environmental co-benefits by jointly using a coupled simulation-optimization approach and cooperative game theoretical analysis. We find that full cooperation outweighs non- or partial cooperation modes to promote economic benefits by 5 to 27%, and to minimize the losses in fishery and sediment transport from 14% and 33% to 8% and 10%, respectively. Full cooperation becomes more beneficial and stable alongside infrastructure expansion, climate change, and the degree of satisfying hydrological needs for river ecosystems. These findings underscore the importance of full cooperation for sustaining socio-environmental systems and highlight the needs of benefit reallocation mechanism and designed flow management for stabilizing basin-level full cooperation in the LMRB.
Hydropower development is a pressing issue for water governance in the Mekong Basin; the world's top hydropower development location. Mainstream hydropower discourses in the Mekong Region, especially in Laos, overestimate the economic and renewable potentials of hydropower development with inadequate attention to sustainability, especially social impacts. Numerous studies have debated such impacts, especially the changes of resettlers' livelihoods due to dam resettlement. Yet, there remains a need to critically analyse how the multiple policies of national and sub-national governments and their unequal power relations in resettlement processes significantly shape resettlers' livelihoods, and outcomes of vulnerability or precarity. In addition, there is an inadequate debate on how ineffective governance of hydropower can entail economic risks at the national level. This thesis takes political ecology as a broad theoretical framework and mobilises three main supporting concepts: the political economy of powersheds, governance and scale, and livelihoods and vulnerability, to examine the politics of hydropower development and governance in the region, with a focus on Laos, the regional export-based hydropower hub. It uses a mixed methods approach, including policy interviews, case studies, household surveys, and ethnographic analysis. I develop a multi-scalar analysis and a relational approach to understand the complexities of Laos' hydropower governance regime. I hierarchically trace how Mekong regional power sector trends interact with Lao national hydropower development discourses and regulatory institutions, which critically shape local resettlement process and outcomes. I argue that the current rapid-paced hydropower development with weak governance not only marginalises the livelihoods of local communities, but also exposes new risks to the national economy. These problems are sliding Laos out of a sustainable hydropower pathway. At the regional level, the hydropower boom in Laos has benefited the energy security of the Mekong Region. However, there has been increasing evidence of pitfalls in Laos: significant oversupply of domestic electricity capacity, a sovereign debt crisis, and privatization of national strategic assets; even though decision makers in Laos view hydropower as a key driver for economic growth. At the national level, I show a series of structural regulatory and institutional disconnects that bedevil sustainable hydropower governance in Laos, across and within key state agencies, both due to and resulting in ineffective hydropower governance. At the local scale in two case study communities, I present the multiple political, social, and environmental objectives that are mobilised in state-led hydropower resettlement, extending existing scholarly literature on dams, towards an understanding of what I call "multi-purpose resettlement." Of surveyed HHs involved in multi-purpose resettlement under the State-owned Enterprise model and a regional Independent Power Producer model, 75% and 45% respectively, identified significant difficulties with regaining their pre-resettlement livelihood standards. Such resettlement also exposes them to new livelihood vulnerability and precarity. This is primarily because the different objectives of multi-purpose resettlement are largely in conflict with each other, and changes in access to agricultural land and natural resources are undercompensated or uncompensated. The ongoing hydropower development paradigm and the evidence of drawbacks in Laos; livelihood vulnerability at the community level, financial risk at the national level, and the collapse of four dams; is in contrast with the country's sustainable hydropower discourse. The evidence assembled in this thesis aims to support decision makers and energy regulators, to review the country's energy development policy, especially in relation to hydropower investment.
The Lancang-Mekong River basin (LMRB) is facing blooming water resources infrastructure development, long-term transboundary conflicts and trade-offs between economic goals and ecosystem services provision. Yet, most studies optimizing the pathway towards sustainable infrastructure operation have lacked multi-sectoral and cross-country perspectives. Here, we quantify how and to what extent transboundary cooperation generate economic and environmental co-benefits by jointly using a coupled simulation-optimization approach and cooperative game theoretical analysis. We find that cooperation outweighs non- or partial cooperation modes to promote economic benefits by 5 to 27%, and to minimize the losses in fishery and sediment transport from 14% and 33% to 8% and 10%, respectively. Full cooperation becomes more stable alongside infrastructure expansion, climate change, and the degree of satisfying hydrological needs for river ecosystems. These findings underscore the importance of full cooperation for sustaining socio-environmental systems and suggest the needs of benefit reallocation mechanism and designed flow management for stabilizing basin-level full cooperation in the LMRB.
This study addresses the objectives currently being pursued through regional power connectivity across Asia. The study contributes to the literature on energy regionalism and serves as a basis for further analysis in Asia as new regional power connectivity initiatives are proposed from China, among others. Results reveal the different weights for each of the objectives, highlighting the importance of economic factors. However, we also find that political, technical, social, and environmental goals are considered high priorities. We discuss the importance of balancing all these goals, and how the existence of multiple power connectivity initiatives can contribute to this.
The data included in this brief consists of the data needed to calculate and assess the robustness of a water level - flood link (WAFL) in the Cambodian Mekong delta, which was used to analyse changes in the long-term behaviour of Monsoon inundations in the region.
The dataset provided comprises the WAFL raster (.tif) files for two zones in the delta. Zone A is located on the right bank of the Bassac, a distributary of the Mekong. Zone B is bracketed between the Mekong and the Bassac. The WAFL was calculated by linking water levels measured by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) at the hydrological station in Koh Khel, with inundation maps derived via k-means clustering from Sentinel-1 and -2 images taken between 2017 and 2021. A table representing the inundation extents in each zone (in %) derived from this analysis is also included. In the final WAFL raster files, each pixel contains the lowest water level for which it was detected as being flooded. It thus provides a basis for an estimation of inundation extents based on in-situ water levels.
Furthermore, this brief includes data used for the assessment of WAFL. This encompasses in-situ water level data collected in a floodplain channel in the Cambodian Mekong Delta, as well as the extents of natural vegetation in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020 in the case study area. The former was collected starting in June 2020 using a differential pressure logger (Onset Hobo MX2001). The latter was calculated from historical Landsat image composites representing the dry seasons (March-May) of the respective years. The Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was calculated and a threshold of 0.55 set to delineate forests and shrubland.
Finally, raster files representing the incidence and duration of inundations in the case study area before and after the year 2008 - a known regional break point in terms of hydrology - are provided. These were calculated based on the WAFL and the MRC water levels. For each area, before- and after-images are available, as well as a raster representing the change between the two (after-before).
To simplify visualisation and geographical location, shapefiles (.shp) of the study area and the location of the in-situ logger are also provided.
Reservoir release is an essential variable as it affects hydrological processes and water availability downstream. This study aims to estimate reservoir release using a satellite-based approach, specially focusing on the impacts of inflow simulations and reservoir water storage change (RWSC) on release estimates. Ten inflow simulations based on hydrological models and blending schemes are used in combination with three RWSC estimates based on two satellite-based approaches. A case study is performed at the Ankang reservoir, China. The results demonstrate that release estimates show high skill, with normalized root-mean-square error (NRMSE) less than 0.12 and Kling-Gupta Efficiency (KGE) over 0.65. The performance of release estimates is varying with and influenced by inflow simulations and RWSC estimates, with NRMSE ranging from 0.09–0.12 and KGE from 0.65–0.74. Based on time-varying Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) approaches and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite datasets, more accurate inflow and RWSC estimates can be obtained, thus facilitating substantially release estimates. With multi-source satellite datasets, temporal scale of reservoir estimates is increased (monthly and bi-weekly), acting as a key supplement to in situ records. Overall, this study explores the possibility to reconstruct and facilitate reservoir release estimates in poorly gauged dammed basins using hydrological modeling techniques and multi-source satellite datasets.
River ecosystem services (rESS) such as the provision of drinking water, fish and other foods, flood protection, or spaces for recreation are important to human well-being. We present methods, tools, and resources for measuring, mapping, assessing, and reporting on status and trends in rESS. Within this framing, we show current approaches to integrate rESS in river basin management and to address the societal implications of trade-offs and synergies between different services, ecosystem processes, and other human uses. We position rESS in the wider context of global policies as e.g. the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the post-2020 biodiversity framework, and the United Nation's Sustainable Development Agenda. Finally, we suggest ways to advance rESS in terms of policy, science and knowledge, and management practice.
Hydropower plant operation alters natural streamflow regimes, which leads to tradeoff between hydropower benefits and the needs of downstream river ecosystems. This study proposes a novel approach for evaluating how hydropower-ecology tradeoff will evolve under future climate change based on Pareto optimal fronts, and demonstrated its efficacy using a case study of the cascade hydropower plants and downstream river ecosystems of the upper Mekong basin (UMB), a representative transboundary river basin. Future climate projections from multiple global climate models (GCMs) are used. Results show that, although GCMs project a future overall increase in streamflow, the hydropower-ecology conflict will likely be exacerbated by increased streamflow variability. Nearly one third of the GCMs indicate the alleviated conflict between hydropower and ecosystems, one third show little apparent change, and the final third show aggravated conflicts. According to the pessimistic GCMs, maintaining ecological impact at historical levels in the future could result in a hydropower deficit for which thermal power would need to compensate, generating additional 1.33 MMT CO2e in greenhouse gas emissions per year. These results reveal the potential challenges facing hydropower and ecological development in the UMB in the future, and emphasize the importance of developing adaptive mitigation techniques under climate change.
Inland fisheries make substantial contributions to food security and livelihoods locally, regionally, and globally but their conservation and management have been largely overlooked by policy makers. In an effort to remedy this limited recognition, a cross-sectoral community of scientists, practitioners, and policy makers from around the world convened a high-level meeting in 2015 at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations headquarters in Rome, Italy to develop recommendations for sustainable inland fisheries management. This meeting resulted in the production of the Rome Declaration, outlining ten key steps needed to achieve responsible inland fisheries. When the Ten Steps were conceived, they were framed in a global context because inland fisheries around the world face similar challenges, and it was hoped that these large-scale and ambitious steps would draw the attention of regional or international bodies for greater investment in their proper management. Most inland fisheries, however, are managed at a local (often community, watershed, or waterbody) scale with the “on-the-ground” practitioners, managers, assessment biologists, and stewardship officers responsible for achieving the promise of the Ten Steps. Here, we reflect on the relevance of the Ten Steps to practitioners using six regional case studies from around the globe (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa) to identify the extent to which existing efforts align with the Ten Steps and where there are opportunities to do more. Learning what is effective from local/regional actions should better inform a more global “action plan” and provide tangible guidance for implementation recognizing that global guidance needs to be informed by and acted upon by local practitioners. We conclude by considering the common challenges, synergies, and other emergent properties that arise from these case studies, and use these as a path forward to advancing responsible management of inland fisheries through the Rome Declaration. Of particular importance is the need to balance the high-level aspirational goals of the Ten Steps with the local cultural, socio-economic, and institutional realities that ultimately influence how humans interact with fisheries resources and aquatic ecosystems. This assessment provides valuable information on how to refine and implement the Ten Steps recognizing that success will require coordinated efforts among on-the-ground practitioners, scientists, stakeholders, rightsholders and international decision makers.
Strategic dam planning and the deployment of decentralized renewable technologies are two elements of the same problem, yet normally addressed in isolation. Here, we show that an integrated view of the power system capacity expansion problem could have transformative effects for Southeast Asia’s hydropower plans. We demonstrate that Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia have tangible opportunities for meeting projected electricity demand and CO2 emission targets with less hydropower than currently planned—options range from halting the construction of all dams in the Lower Mekong to building 82% of the planned ones. The key enabling strategies for these options to succeed are solar PV and regional coordination, expressed in the form of centralized planning and cross-border power trading. The alternative expansion plans would slightly increase the cumulative costs (up to 2.4%), but substantially limit the fragmentation of additional river reaches, thereby offering more sustainable pathways for the Mekong’s ecosystems and riparian people.
Communication and outreach efforts are essential for raising awareness about conservation issues among the general public. This paper reviews three in-person approaches (environmental education, outreach events, and field trips), as well as four types of media (print products, news media, visual media, and social media) for communicating about environmental topics, with a focus on highlighting conservation issues in Cambodia. Strengths and weaknesses are considered for each communication tool, along with lessons from a case study example of the Wonders of the Mekong, an interdisciplinary project based in Cambodia that aims to study, protect, and raise awareness about the Mekong River system. We also describe a cross-cutting initiative to share inspiring stories of local conservation practitioners that incorporates both in-person and media-based approaches. In terms of required resources and effort, there is an inherent tradeoff between the depth of in-person engagement and overall reach. While media-based approaches are valuable for reaching large numbers of people with a moderate amount of effort, in-person approaches may create a deeper connection and longer-term impact on an individual level. Ultimately, a diverse communication strategy that utilizes multiple tools to reach different audiences will be most effective. The interdisciplinary Wonders of the Mekong project has successfully communicated the values of the Mekong ecosystem to a broad audience in Cambodia using a variety of strategies, and further evaluation could help illuminate whether and how these communication approaches are shifting attitudes or promoting conservation behaviors.
Strategic dam planning and the deployment of decentralized renewable technologies are two elements of the same problem, yet they are normally addressed in isolation. Here, we show that an integrated view of the power system capacity expansion problem could have transformative effects for the 'Battery of Asia' plan. We demonstrate that Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia have tangible opportunities for meeting projected electricity demand and CO2 emission targets with less hydropower than currently planned--options range from halting the construction of all dams in the Lower Mekong to building 82% of the planned ones. The key enabling strategies for these options to succeed are solar PV and regional coordination, expressed in the form of centralized planning and cross-border power trading. The alternative expansion plans would slightly increase the cumulative costs, but limit the fragmentation of additional river reaches, thereby offering more sustainable pathways for the Mekong’s ecosystems and riparian people.
An increasing global population and growing wealth are raising demand for energy and food, impacting on the environment and people living in river basins. Sectoral decision-making may not optimize socioeconomic benefits because of perverse impacts in other sectors for people and ecosystems. The hydropower–food supply nexus in the Mekong River basins is assessed here in an influence model. This shows how altering one variable has consequent effects throughout the basin system. Options for strategic interventions to maximize benefits while minimizing negative impacts are identified that would enable national and sub-national policy makers to take more informed decisions across the hydropower, water and food supply sectors. This approach should be further tested to see if it may aid policy making in other large river systems around the world.
The main purpose of thesis is to estimate the value of the ecosystem services of the Bung Khong Long through two techniques. The per hectare value estimated by economic valuation method is US$ 976 per annum. MRA-benefit transfer approach produces values of between US$ 396 and US$ 1,369 per annum.
Basin-scale planning is needed to minimize impacts in mega-diverse rivers
The lower, potamonic parts of the Ganges–Brahmaputra, the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy), the Salween, the Chao Phraya and the Mekong and Lancang Rivers are among the longest and most productive rivers for inland fisheries in the world. Except for the Chao Phraya, they arise on the Tibetan Plateau. All have steep and turbulent upper courses within deep mountain valleys and flat lower courses associated with large deltaic wetlands. Much of the riparian wetlands have been converted to rice culture. They all have rich and diverse fish faunas, comprising >100 families, that are adapted to a wide range of river channel and floodplain habitats. Many species are migratory whitefishes, but more sedentary blackfishes are more important in the fisheries of some rivers. Fisheries may be commercial, artisanal or subsistence and employ a wide range of static and moving gear, some of which requires considerable investment. Most species caught are consumed. Larger fishes are sold for the table; smaller individuals are often processed into a variety of forms including dried products, fish pastes and sauces. Small, low‐value fishes are also utilized for animal feed (mainly for aquaculture) sometimes after processing. There are a wide range of potential threats to the inland fishes and fisheries of Asia including dam development for hydropower and irrigation, overexploitation, pollution, land use change, mining, the introduction of invasive species, and water diversion for agriculture and other purposes. Fisheries are managed either as open access fisheries or lot fisheries which are assigned to particular groups on the basis of auctions. At present, management at local, national, basin and international levels is not meeting the needs of fish and fishery conservation and urgently needs to be reformed to better protect the fisheries in the face of mounting pressures from other users of the aquatic resource.
The Mekong River, largely undeveloped prior to 1990, is undergoing rapid dam construction. Seven dams are under construction on the mainstem in China and 133 proposed for the Lower Mekong River and tributaries. We delineated nine distinct geomorphic regions, for which we estimated sediment yields based on geomorphic characteristics, tectonic history, and the limited sediment transport data available. We then applied the 3W model [Minear and Kondolf, 2009] to calculate cumulative sediment trapping by these dams, accounting for changing trap efficiency over time and multiple dams on a single river system. Under a 'definite future' scenario of 38 dams (built or under construction), cumulative sediment reduction to the Delta would be 51%. Under full build-out of all planned dams, cumulative sediment trapping will be 96%. That is, once in-channel stored sediment is exhausted, only 4% of the pre-dam sediment load would be expected to reach the Delta. This scenario would have profound consequences on productivity of the river and persistence of the Delta landform itself, and suggests that strategies to pass sediment through/around dams should be explored to prevent the consequences of downstream sediment starvation.
Governments in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) face decisions that involve trade-offs between the economic benefits from hydropower generation and potentially irreversible negative impacts on the ecosystems that provide livelihoods and food security to the rural poor. As a means of comparing these trade-offs, a sensitivity analysis of the benefit-cost analysis of certain Basin Development Plan (BDP) scenarios was undertaken. By changing some key assumptions in the BDP about discount rates, the value of lost capture fisheries, future aquaculture production in the LMB, and the value of lost ecosystem services from wetlands to reflect the full range of uncertainty, at the extremes, there could be a reversal of the Net Present Value (NPV) estimates of the scenarios from a positive $33 billion to negative $274 billion. This report recommends when dealing with large-scale, complex projects: a more comprehensive, integrated human and natural systems framework and adaptive management approach to LMB planning and development that deals with the entire watershed; a more comprehensive analysis and treatment of risk and uncertainty; a more thorough assessment of the value of direct and indirect ecosystem services; a broader set of scenarios that embody alternative models of development, broader stakeholder participation; and better treatment of the effects of infrastructure construction on local cultures and the poor.
The Tonle Sap Lake of Cambodia is the largest freshwater body of Southeast Asia, forming an important part of the Mekong River system. The lake has an extremely productive ecosystem and operates as a natural floodwater reservoir for the lower Mekong Basin, offering flood protection and assuring the dry season flow to the Mekong Delta. In light of the accelerating pace of water resources development within the Mekong Basin and the anticipation of potentially significant hydrological impacts, it is critical to understand the overall hydrologic regime of Tonle Sap Lake. We present here a detailed water balance model based on observed data of discharges from the lake's tributaries, discharge between Mekong and the lake through the Tonle Sap River, precipitation, and evaporation. The overland flow between the Mekong and lake was modelled with the EIA 3D hydrodynamic model. We found that majority (53.5%) of the water originates from the Mekong mainstream, but the lake's tributaries also play an important role contributing 34% of the annual flow, while 12.5% is derived from precipitation. The water level in the lake is mainly controlled by the water level in the Mekong mainstream. The Tonle Sap system is hence very vulnerable, from a water quantity point of view, to possible changes in the Mekong mainstream and thus, development activities in the whole Mekong basin. From a biogeochemical point of view, the possible changes in the lake's own catchment are equally important, together with the changes in the whole Mekong Basin. Based on our findings, we recommend of continuing the monitoring programmes in lake's tributaries and urgently starting of groundwater measurement campaign within the floodplain, and including the groundwater modelling to be part of the hydrodynamic models applied for the lake.
a b s t r a c t This paper examines the value of ecosystem services provided by mangroves. It presents a meta-analysis of the economic valuation literature and applies the estimated value function to assess the value of mangroves in Southeast Asia. We construct a database containing 130 value estimates, largely for mangroves in Southeast Asia. Values are standardised to US$ per hectare per year in 2007 prices. The mean and median values are found to be 4185 and 239 US$/ha/year respectively. The values of mangrove ecosystem services are highly variable across study sites due to, amongst other factors, the bio-physical characteristics of the site and the socio-economic characteristics of the beneficiaries of ecosystem services. We include explanatory variables in the meta-analysis to account for these influences on estimated mangrove values. A geographic information system (GIS) is used to quantify potentially important spatial variables, including the abundance of mangroves, the population of beneficiaries, and the density of roads in the vicinity of each study site. The meta-analytic value function is used to estimate the change in value of mangrove ecosystem services in Southeast Asia under a baseline scenario of mangrove loss for the period 2000–2050. The estimated foregone annual benefits in 2050 are US$ 2.2 billion, with a prediction interval of US$ 1.6–2.8 billion. & 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The Mekong flows north to south, through six countries in south–east Asia. Many studies have concentrated on fish and fisheries
in the Lower Mekong, which has been identified as one of the largest inland fisheries in the world with an incredibly rich
diversity of species. In contrast, fish and fisheries in the Upper Mekong (Lancang River) have remained relatively undocumented.
In this paper, we synthesized information on freshwater fish biodiversity and fisheries in the Upper Mekong and documented
173 species and subspecies (including 87 endemic species) among 7 orders, 23 families and 100 genera. We divided the Upper
Mekong into 17 sub-basins based on Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and then used fish species data to cluster the sub-basins.
Four parts (the headwater, the upper reach, the middle reach and the lower reach) and one lake have distinct fish species
communities associated with them. There was a linear relationship between fish species (x) and endemic species (y) as y=0.5464x−3.2926. Relationship between species number or endemic species number (y) and mean altitude (x) can be described as y=−54.352 ln(x)+460.79 or y=−30.381 ln(x)+253.85, respectively. Fisheries kept as about 6,000 t from 1989 to 1998, and then steadily increased to 10,000 t in 2004.
We reviewed the overall threats to the Upper Mekong fish and fisheries, and found that hydrological alteration is the largest
threat in the basin, followed by over fishing and the introduction of exotic species. In terms of specific river sections,
water pollution was the most serious threat to fishes in the upper reach of the Upper Mekong, whilst migratory fishes in the
lower reach of the Upper Mekong are seriously threatened by the construction of cascade dams. The Buyuan River and the Nanla
River were identified as important feeding and spawning habitats for upstream migrant species and should be considered as
a priority for conservation.
The Mekong River Basin, site of the biggest inland fishery in the world, is undergoing massive hydropower development. Planned dams will block critical fish migration routes between the river's downstream floodplains and upstream tributaries. Here we estimate fish biomass and biodiversity losses in numerous damming scenarios using a simple ecological model of fish migration. Our framework allows detailing trade-offs between dam locations, power production, and impacts on fish resources. We find that the completion of 78 dams on tributaries, which have not previously been subject to strategic analysis, would have catastrophic impacts on fish productivity and biodiversity. Our results argue for reassessment of several dams planned, and call for a new regional agreement on tributary development of the Mekong River Basin.
The past decade has seen increased international recognition of the importance of the services provided by natural ecosystems. It is unclear however whether such international awareness will lead to improved environmental management in many regions. We explore this issue by examining the specific case of fish migration and dams on the Mekong river. We determine that dams on the Mekong mainstem and major tributaries will have a major impact on the basin's fisheries and the people who depend upon them for food and income. We find no evidence that current moves towards dam construction will stop, and consider two scenarios for the future of the fisheries and other ecosystems of the basin. We conclude that major investment is required in innovative technology to reduce the loss of ecosystem services, and alternative livelihood strategies to cope with the losses that do occur.
Rapid development in the upper reaches of the Mekong River, in the form of construction of large hydropower dams and reservoirs, large irrigation schemes, and rapid urban development, is putting water resources under stress. Recent studies have concluded that these developments will lead to flow alterations in the Mekong River. These flow alterations would threaten the sensitive ecosystems downstream, particularly Tonle Sap River, Tonle Sap Lake, its floodplain, and its gallery forest and protected areas, by changing the flood-pulse system of the lake. This article estimates the changes in parameters of the Tonle Sap flood pulse due to the aforementioned flow alterations. The impacts on the flooded area and loss of gallery forest and protected areas were analyzed using geographic information system-based methods. Relatively small rises in the dry-season lake water level would permanently inundate disproportionately large areas of floodplain, rendering it inaccessible to floodplain vegetation and eroding the productivity basis of the ecosystem. It is highly important to maintain the natural hydrological pattern of the Mekong River, particularly the dry-season water levels, to preserve Tonle Sap Lake's ecosystem productivity.
Though reported capture fisheries are dominated by marine production, inland fish and fisheries make substantial contributions to meeting the challenges faced by individuals, society, and the environment in a changing global landscape.Inland capture fisheries and aquaculture contribute over 40% to the world’s reported finfish production from less than 0.01% of the total volume of water on earth. These fisheries provide food for billions and livelihoods for millions of people worldwide.Herein, using supporting evidence from the literature, we review 10 reasons why inland fish and fisheries are important to the individual (food security, economic security, empowerment), to society (cultural services, recreational services, human health and well-being, knowledge transfer and capacity building), and to the environment (ecosystem function and biodiversity, as aquatic “canaries”, the “green food” movement). However, the current limitations to valuing the services provided by inland fish and fisheries make comparison with other water resource users extremely difficult. This list can serve to demonstrate the importance of inland fish and fisheries, a necessary first step to better incorporating them into agriculture, land-use, and water resource planning, where they are currently often underappreciated or ignored.
Dam operations have had significant impact on the natural flow regimes in most of the world large rivers. The Mekong River in Southeast Asia was one of the few remaining rather intact large river basins. The natural flow regime, however, is changing due to the recent hydropower development of many large dams in both mainstream and tributaries. The impacts of dams operation on the natural flows and the recent droughts in particular were examined in Chiang Saen, close to the Chinese dams on the Mekong River mainstream. We used the Indicators of Hydrological Alteration (IHA) to examine the impacts of dam operation on water discharge. The water discharge was obviously lower in the dry seasons (1-, 3- and 7-day minima) in the post-dam period (1992–2010) than in the pre-dam period (1960–1991). The water discharge in the wet seasons (1-, 3- and 7-day maxima) was marginally lower in the post-dam period. The monthly mean value averaged over the entire post-dam period was higher in July (an increase of 15%), but lower in August (a decrease of 9%) than in the pre-dam period, suggesting the reservoirs released more water for hydropower generation in July, but started to store water in August. The early monsoon withdrawal and low monsoon rainfall in 2009, as well as very low rainfall in the dry season of 2010 resulted in 2010 severe drought in Yunnan and the lower Mekong basin. Water flows at Chiang Saen were dominated by precipitation upstream, but the existing reservoirs (Manwang, Dachaoshan, Jinhong, and Xiaowan until 2010) have altered the water flow to a certain degree at Chiang Saen. However, climate change, especially temperature increase of 0.2–0.4 C°/10 years and glacial melting in the river origin area, and more importantly, recent extreme weather events, could put the Chinese reservoirs at the center of debate. Our results can be used to enhance the understanding of the potential future hydrological changes in the basin due to the rapid hydropower development.
This paper compares water resources issues and management efforts between the Mississippi River system (North America's largest) and the Mekong River system (Southeast Asia's largest). Outcomes from the Mississippi experience-where large-scale hydraulic engineering approaches have been employed for decades-may be especially relevant to planning efforts in the Mekong, where large-scale engineering has yet to be used in many areas of the river basin. Experiences in the Mississippi in flood hazards, ecosystem degradation, restoration, monitoring, and adaptive management could be used to inform Mekong water policy formation. In both the Mekong and Mississippi River basins, the health and livelihoods of people are strongly linked to ecological integrity. The challenge of sustaining this integrity in the processes of socioeconomic development may be the single most important feature connecting these large river systems and their inhabitants.
Fish passage systems may provide a means to mitigate the barrier effect of dams on migrating fish species. Even though design criteria were initially developed for the fish fauna of temperate regions, they are widely used in tropical rivers with relative success. A fish passage concept has been developed for a hydroelectric power project on the Mekong River in the absence of suitable fish passage design criteria. There are several hydropower dams proposed for development on the mainstem of the Mekong River in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and China and the impact of hydropower on fisheries is fast becoming a big issue. Located in Laos territory, the present project is one of the promising run-of-river hydropower projects identified by the Mekong Secretariat in 1994. The feasibility study began in 2007 and the outline (basic) design is being completed in 2010. The scheme includes a comprehensive fish passage system, which provides facilities for upstream and downstream passage. The proposed fish passage concept is based on twelve principles and gives emphasis on an adaptive project management, which includes planning, implementation and operation of the fish passage system and other structures of the project. It will cater to the large number of species and high biomass and especially to the variable flow regime and the lack of biological knowledge on the behavior of migrating species.
The past decade has seen increased international recognition of the importance of the services provided by natural ecosystems. It is unclear however whether such international awareness will lead to improved environmental management in many regions. We explore this issue by examining the specific case of fish migration and dams on the Mekong river. We determine that dams on the Mekong mainstem and major tributaries will have a major impact on the basin's fisheries and the people who depend upon them for food and income. We find no evidence that current moves towards dam construction will stop, and consider two scenarios for the future of the fisheries and other ecosystems of the basin. We conclude that major investment is required in innovative technology to reduce the loss of ecosystem services, and alternative livelihood strategies to cope with the losses that do occur.
A sharp decrease in total suspended solids (TSS) concentration has occurred in the Mekong River after the closure of the Manwan Dam in China in 1993, the first of a planned cascade of eight dams. This paper describes the upstream developments on the Mekong River, concentrating on the effects of hydropower dams and reservoirs. The reservoir-related changes in total suspended solids, suspended sediment concentration (SSC), and hydrology have been analyzed, and the impacts of such possible changes on the Lower Mekong Basin discussed. The theoretical trapping efficiency of the proposed dams has been computed and the amount of sediment to be trapped in the reservoirs estimated. The reservoir trapping of sediments and the changing of natural flow patterns will impact the countries downstream in this international river basin. Both positive and negative possible effects of such impacts have been reviewed, based on the available data from the Mekong and studies on other basins.
With renewed economic interest in the Southeast Asian region following the `peace dividend' of the early 1990s, numerous hydrodevelopment plans have been initiated in the Mekong basin. The river-as-resource, in a glibly bioregional metaphor, has been transformed from a Cold War `front line' into a `corridor of commerce', drawing six riparian states together in the pursuit of sustainable development through economic and infrastructural integration and cooperation, promoted by multi- and bilateral donors and lending institutions. Through a brief examination of the discursive framing of Mekong hydrodevelopment, this paper uncovers some of the implications of an emerging regional geopolitical imagination centred on the naturalising metaphor of the watershed. Through a discussion of the increasing involvement of private capital, and the politicisation of resource use, the implications of hydrodevelopment for Laos, an upstream state currently undergoing major hydrodevelopment, and Cambodia, a downstream state, are explored.
Fisheries Baseline Assessment for Mekong River Commission Strategic Environment Impact Assessment. Phnom Penh Hotel
- E Baran
Baran, E., 2010a. Fisheries Baseline Assessment for Mekong River Commission
Strategic Environment Impact Assessment. Phnom Penh Hotel, Phnom Penh,
Cambodia.
Mekong River Commission Strategic Environmental Assessment of Hydropower on the Mekong Mainstream
- E Baran
Baran, E., 2010b. Mekong fisheries and mainstream dams. Fisheries sections. In:
ICEM 2010. Mekong River Commission Strategic Environmental Assessment of
Hydropower on the Mekong Mainstream. International Centre for
Environmental Management, Hanoi, Viet Nam, p. 145.
Larval and Juvenile Fish Communities of the Lower Mekong Basin MRC Technical Paper No. 49
- I G Cowx
- W Kamonrat
- N Sukumasavin
- R Sirimongkolthawon
- S Suksri
- N Phila
Cowx, I.G., Kamonrat, W., Sukumasavin, N., Sirimongkolthawon, R., Suksri, S., Phila,
N., 2015. Larval and Juvenile Fish Communities of the Lower Mekong Basin MRC
Technical Paper No. 49. Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Freshwater biodiversity: importance, threats, status and conservation challenges
- D Dudgeon
- A H Arthington
- M O Gessner
- Z Kawabata
- D J Knowler
- C Lévêque
- R J Naiman
- P Richard
- Annehélène
- D Soto
- M L Stiassny
Dudgeon, D., Arthington, A.H., Gessner, M.O., Kawabata, Z., Knowler, D.J., Lévêque,
C., Naiman, R.J., Richard, P., AnneHélène, Soto, D., Stiassny, M.L., 2006.
Freshwater biodiversity: importance, threats, status and conservation
challenges. Biol. Rev. 81 (2), 163-182.
The Impacts of Dams on the Fisheries of the Mekong
- K Geheb
- I Pukinskis
Geheb, K., Pukinskis, I., 2012. The Impacts of Dams on the Fisheries of the Mekong
(English Language).
Social impact monitoring and vulnerability assessment in the Mekong corridor: Report on a regional pilot study
- D Hall
- L Bouapao
Hall, D., Bouapao, L., 2010. ''Social impact monitoring and vulnerability assessment
in the Mekong corridor: Report on a regional pilot study." MRC Technical Paper
No 30.
Estimation of Annual Yield of Fish by Guild in the Lower Mekong Basin. WorldFish center
- A Halls
Halls, A., 2010. Estimation of Annual Yield of Fish by Guild in the Lower Mekong
Basin. WorldFish center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Fisheries Habitat and Yield in the Lower Mekong Basin MRC Technical Paper No. 47
- K G Hortle
- P Bamrungrach
Hortle, K.G., Bamrungrach, P., 2015. Fisheries Habitat and Yield in the Lower
Mekong Basin MRC Technical Paper No. 47. Mekong River Commission, Phanon
Penh, Cambodia.
Economic Analysis of the Environmental and Social Impacts of the Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectricity Power Project: Final Draft Report
- B Laplante
Laplante, B., 2005. Economic Analysis of the Environmental and Social Impacts of
the Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectricity Power Project: Final Draft Report. World
Bank, Washington, DC.
Power system development plan for Lao PDR: Final Report
- Maunsell Limited
- Lahmeyer Gmbh
Maunsell Limited and Lahmeyer GmbH, 2004. Power system development plan for
Lao PDR: Final Report, Volume A: Main Report.
Mekong Basin Planning: The Story Behind the Basin Development Plan-The BDP Story
Mekong River Commission (2013). ''Mekong Basin Planning: The Story Behind the
Basin Development Plan-The BDP Story."
Importance of Inland Capture Fisheries in the Lower Mekong Basin
- S Nam
Nam, S., 2015. Importance of Inland Capture Fisheries in the Lower Mekong Basin.
American Fisheries Society, Portland, Oregon.
Dams on the Mekong River: lost fish protein and the implications for land and water resources
- S Orr
- J Pittock
- A Chapagain
- D Dumaresq
Orr, S., Pittock, J., Chapagain, A., Dumaresq, D., 2012. Dams on the Mekong River:
lost fish protein and the implications for land and water resources. Global
Environ. Change 22 (4), 925-932.
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia
- P Ruangrong
Ruangrong, P., 2012. Power Tariff Structure in Thailand. Economic Research
Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Singapore.
Livelihoods and Food Security on the Mekong River
- M Piesse
Piesse, M., 2016. Livelihoods and Food Security on the Mekong River. Future
Direction International, Strategic Analysis Paper,(May 26, 2016). Accessed June
13.
Assessment of Power Trade Benefits from Hydropower Projects in Lower Mekong River Basin
- C Piseth
- C Sophearin
Piseth, C., Sophearin, C., (2014). Assessment of Power Trade Benefits from
Hydropower Projects in Lower Mekong River Basin. Energy Market
Integration in East Asia: Energy Trade, Cross Border Electricity, and Price
Mechanism. P. A. F. K. Han. Jakarta, ERIA Research Project Report FY2013. 29:
193-239.
Review of Existing Research on Fish Passage through Large Dams and its Applicability to Mekong Mainstream Dams MRC Technical Paper No. 48
- S Schmutz
- C Mielach
Schmutz, S., Mielach, C., 2015. Review of Existing Research on Fish Passage through
Large Dams and its Applicability to Mekong Mainstream Dams MRC Technical
Paper No. 48. Mekong River Commission, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The World Bank, 2015. ''Inflation, consumer prices (annual%)." from
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG.
The Mekong River system
- N Van Zalinge
- P Degen
- C Pongsri
- Sam Nuov
- J Jensen
- V H Nguyen
- X Choulamany
Van Zalinge, N., Degen, P., Pongsri, C., Sam Nuov, Jensen J., Nguyen V.H.,
Choulamany, X., 2004. The Mekong River system. Proceedings of the Second
International Symposium on the Management of Large Rivers for Fisheries, Vol.
1, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand.
Alternative Planning Approaches for Hydropower Development in the Lower Mekong Basin
- R Costanza
- I Kubiszewski
- P Paquet
- J King
- S Halimi
- H Sanguanngoi
- N L Bach
- R Frankel
- J Ganjaseni
- A Intralawan
- D Morell
Costanza, R., Kubiszewski, I., Paquet, P., King, J., Halimi, S., Sanguanngoi, H., Bach, N.
L., Frankel, R., Ganjaseni, J., Intralawan, A., Morell, D., 2011. Alternative Planning
Approaches for Hydropower Development in the Lower Mekong Basin. USAID,
Bangkok, Thailand.
Alternatives for Power Generation in the Greater Mekong Subregion: Volume 1 Power Sector Vision for the Greater Mekong Subregion. World Wild Fund for Nature. International Finance Corporation
- Icem
ICEM, 2010. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of Hydropower on the
Mekong Mainstream. Hanoi, Vietnam.
Intelligent Energy Systems Pty Ltd (IES), Mekong Economics (MKE), 2016.
Alternatives for Power Generation in the Greater Mekong Subregion: Volume
1 Power Sector Vision for the Greater Mekong Subregion. World Wild Fund for
Nature.
International Finance Corporation, 2015. Hydroelectric Power: A Guide for
Developers and Investors. WORLD BANK GROUP, Germany.
International Renewable Energy Agency, 2012. Renewable Energy Technologies:
Cost Analysis Series. Volume 1: Hydropower
Intralawan, A., Wood, D., Frankel, R., 2015. Working Paper on Economic,
Environmental and Social Impacts of Hydropower Development in the Lower
Mekong Basin. Natural Resources and Environmental Management Research
and Training Center, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Assessment of basin-wide development scenarios: Technical Note 11 Impacts on Fisheries
- Vientiane
- Pdr Lao
Mekong River Commission, 2010b. Assessment of basin-wide development
scenarios: Technical Note 11 Impacts on Fisheries. Vientiane, Lao PDR.