The Mekong River, flowing through Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, is the largest river in Southeast Asia. It hosts a unique and significant ecological system with some of the world’s highest diversity of fish and snails, including the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin and the giant Mekong catfish. More than 70 million people live directly on its river banks, and rely on the river for food, accommodation and employment with wild fish catch being the most important protein intake. Recently however, the Mekong region has faced growing challenges including a steady increase in hydropower projects as a result of rapid economic development of the riparians. The need for cheap and renewable energy is rising, fostering the increase in hydropower development where logistically possible.
Hydropower developments in general and specifically on the Mekong River are an explicit example of the need to look beyond water security and include the challenges of energy and food security into the equation. On the Mekong, hydropower developments have a direct impact on all three securities (food, energy and water). As hydropower dams increase energy security however, they often simultaneously impact on the water quantity and reduce seasonal water flows. Food security is also affected as hydropower dams impact on fisheries, reduce fish stocks and decrease river bank agriculture due to more regulated water flow reducing soil sediment flow.
One example is the Don Sahong Dam, which is currently under construction in the Siphandone area of Champasak Province, southern Laos, in close proximity (2 km) to the Cambodian border. In September 2013, Laos officially notified the Mekong River Commission and member countries of its intention to build the Don Sahong Dam. The six-month consultation process of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) for the dam officially started in July 2014. In early 2015 however, the MRC Council could not agree if the process should come to an end and transferred the decision to the respective governments. Construction on the dam started in 2015 by the project’s developer, Don Sahong Power Company, which is a joint venture between Mega First Corporation Berhad (MFCB), a Malaysian company holding 80 % and Laos’ state-owned utility Electricite Du Laos (EDL) holding 20% with a concession for 25 years. Estimated construction costs are about $500USD million to complete the dam, which will have an installed capacity of 260MW. This will allow for energy generation totaling some 2,000GWh a year, with electricity used in Laos as well as for exportation to neighbouring countries. The project is expected to be completed in 2019. Last week, on 16 August 2016, the blessing ceremony for the concrete foundation of the project’s powerhouse was held at the project site in Don Sahong village, which marks another milestone in the construction progress.
Dead fish in close proximity of the construction site, April 2016. Photo provided by Dr Andrea Haefner.
The case study of the Don Sahong Dam demonstrates that increasing energy security due to more hydropower developments in Laos for example, has clear tradeoffs. It is linked to an increase in food insecurity within Laos as well as in downstream countries, especially Cambodia and Vietnam, which will face the biggest impacts in the future. Cambodia is concerned with Tonle Sap Lake, the biggest lake in Southeast Asia, which will be impacted the most as it is the primary source of food and livelihood for 1.6 million people and approximately 10% of the current national GDP. The lake depends on the Mekong River’s enormous water flows in the wet season in order to reverse the direction in the dry season, carrying high amounts of fish and other animals that spawn in the lake during the wet season. This accounts for at least up to 60% of the annual protein intake of Cambodia’s population, which is crucial for food security in the country. According to a study by the Australian National University, to replace the protein and calories associated with Mekong fisheries would require a significant increase in water and land resources, particularly in Cambodia. Furthermore, the decrease in fish supply will likely increase fish prices in the market, meaning poorer communities will need to spend more money for fish consumption. Besides the impact on fisheries, the dam will also negatively impact on the few remaining endangered Irrawaddy Dolphins in Laos, which use a transboundary deep pool within 1 km of the construction site and attract many tourists to the Siphandone area. Further reduction in the numbers or disappearance of the dolphins would also have a negative impact on the local population due to a reduction in tourism.
Although linkages of food, energy and water have always been present, the water-energy-food nexus is especially important in an urbanizing Asia as resources are limited, populations increase and people move from rural to urban areas. This will further increase the demand on limited resources and significantly reinforce the nexus approach in order to achieve sustainable development and a peaceful region. This is even more important amidst the backdrop of increasing floods, droughts and other disasters, which have increased in recent years and have influenced the livelihoods of those living directly on the river.
Article written by Dr. Andrea Haefner, Adjunct Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute.
