Documenting the Mekong River with the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute (ISDSI)

The Mighty Mekong’s headwaters begin in the high elevations of the frozen Tibetan Plateau and initiate it’s impressive 4,800km downstream flow as it travels through the Yunnan province of China, Myanmar (Burma), Lao PDR, Thailand and Cambodia before eventually forming the Mekong Delta in Southern Vietnam and discharging into the South China Sea.

Uniting over 320 million people across the Greater Mekong Region, it is easy to see why this majestic river has been called, “The Lifeblood of Asia”, ‘”The Soul of Southeast Asia”, ‘River of Giants” and “Mother Mekong”. Traveling through 6 countries and holding claim to the longest river in South East Asia, the Mekong supports an incredible array of life, including subsistence village livelihoods, fisheries, agriculture, the potential to supply energy to millions and the rich and complex terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem habitats that sustain a remarkable level of endemic species diversity. As millions rely on the river daily to sustain life, it’s safe to say that a healthy Mekong equates to the success of many lives in the Greater Mekong Region.

By embarking on a 3 week field course through Northern Thailand, Central and Southern Laos and on a 200km float trip down the Mekong River, students at the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute (ISDSI) aim to obtain a rich understanding of the complex multinational, regional, social and environmental interests, issues, pressures and conflicts focused on the sustainable development and resource management of the Mekong River. I met up with the ISDSI field course in Vientiane, Laos, after the students spent weeks in the classroom at ISDSI’s headquarters in Chiang Mai – Thailand, and a week investigating the village of Phrae’s ongoing 20 year struggle to protest a proposed large dam project on the Yom River in Thailand. Understanding and analyzing the roles that individual countries, multinational organizations, private stakeholders, and the local population play in preserving the Mekong’s colossal resource, natural environment, and local cultures in order to mitigate conflict and promote cooperative sustainable development was the students main task. To begin the Lao portion of the field course, the student’s first stop was at the headquarters of the Mekong River Commission in Vientiane.

The Mekong River Commission (MRC)

Attempting to sustainably develop the Mekong River has created one of the most difficult cross-boundary river resource management problems in the world today. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is at the forefront of trying to resolve this problem. During a full day conference at the MRC, Dr. Vitoon Viriyasakultorm, an MRC Technical Coordinator Advisor, led the group in an in depth review of the MRC’s history, framework and current affairs.

In April 1995, in an effort to protect and effectively manage this vital resource, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam agreed to join forces and create the MRC. Quickly thereafter, the MRC Joint Committee designed the “Basin Development Plan” to cooperatively manage the sustainable development and economic growth of the Mekong River Basin water and related resources. Since it’s creation, the MRC’s has played a critical role in attempting to consult and regulate varying development as multinational private, public and regional stakeholders vie for a piece of the Mekong. With so much at stake, the MRC has lead the charge in assuring that an open dialogue exists between the MRC Joint Committee, China and Myanmar as dialogue partners, private stakeholders, NGO’s, regional interests and the people living within the Mekong River Basin.

Today, the single biggest threat to the Mekong’s health is the potential development of mainstream and large tributary hydropower projects in China, Laos and Cambodia. Currently, there are 3 operational dams in China, 1 under construction and 15 proposed dam projects on the mainstream of the Mekong (4 in China, 8 in Laos, 3 in Cambodia). While hydropower operations promise much needed energy for economic development, opportunities for foreign exchange earnings and multinational government growth, the massive impact and major risks that come with hydropower development are unavoidable and potentially catastrophic to lives that regularly depend on it’s seasonal and unobstructed migratory flow.

The Nam Theun-Hinboun Hydropower Expansion Project

Striving to become the battery of SouthEast Asia, Lao PDR is a hotspot for current and proposed hydropower development. Departing Vientiane, the ISDSI students set out on a 4 day road trip through the Bolikhamxay and Khammouane Provinces in southern Lao PDR, to examine the Nam Theun-Hinboun Hydropower Expansion Project.

The goal of the Nam Theun-Hinboun Hydropower Expansion Project is to increase hydroelectric potential of the pre-existing 210-megawatt Nam Theun-Hinboun Hydropower facility, ultimately generating more revenue as power is exported to Thailand.  The main components of this expansion project include the construction of the Nam Gnounang Dam and Reservoir on the Nam Gnounang River, a secondary diversion tunnel, and a secondary hydro-electric power plant, which combined, will generate an additional 220-megawatts to the existing infrastructure. The Nam Gnounang River flows into the Nam Theun/Nam Kading River system – one of many major tributary systems on the Mekong River.

As a result, water is currently diverted from the Nam Gnounang and Nam Theun/Nam Kading basins through the Theun-Hiboun Hydropower Plant tunnel system and into the Nam Hai/Nam Hinboun River basin to the south. Further downstream, the Nam Hinboun River flows into the Mekong River. Increased hydropower production at the Theun-Hinboun Power Plant increases water flow on the regulated Nam Hai River, especially during the dry season. In turn, within the Nam Gnounang Basin and along the Nam Hai River, many villages have been resettled and/or relocated by THPC due to flooding, increased water flow and infrastructure construction.

The ISDSI students spent time touring the new expansion project, visiting with officials from THPC and taking a closer look at a few of the villages and local communities that are directly impacted by the project. This opportunity to begin to analyze the political and economical decision-making across national and cultural lines gave the students a critical lens through which to better understand the possible risks and impacts that a project of this scale can create on the environment and the lives of those dependent on rivers.

Chang Khan to Nong Khai

Traveling back through Vientiane and crossing the border into Thailand, the road trip through Laos came to an end as the students transferred their gear and focus to the Mekong’s mainstream in Chang Khan, Thailand. The final week of the field course began by embarking on a 200km inflatable canoe float trip down the Mekong. During the dry season the flow of the Mekong between Laos and Thailand becomes less turbulent and easier to navigate, providing an ideal pace and platform to witness the daily life along its banks. Between Chang Khan and Nong Kai Thailand, the Mekong separates Laos and Thailand and the lives of many in two distinctly different countries. A distance of roughly 40km was covered each day as the group of 8 canoes journeyed downstream. Along the way, students experienced first hand how thousands of local Thai and Laotian people have come to rely on the river as one of their most prolific and prominent resources. Water resource related activity that was witnessed along the 200km stretch included riverbank cultivation and irrigation management, net and hook and line fishing, gold and sand mining, commercial and public navigation, water collection for hygiene and livestock and tourism.

In the end, this 5 day snapshot of the Mekong, provided the field course with an additional point of view to begin analyzing and comprehending the scale and relevance of many of the issues and challenges that are prevalent in the future sustainable development and resource management of the Greater Mekong Region.

Once the students returned to ISDSI’s campus in Chiang Mai, news came soon after that a very important decision was looming in regards to the Xayaburi Dam Hydropower Project in Laos, located on the Mekong’s mainstream. This would be the first hydropower project to be approved along the Mekong’s Lower Region and currently poses the greatest threat to river and it’s people. The impact, risks and potential issues that students had observed during the field course were now in the balance again with this major project proposal. Currently, the decision to push the Xayaburi Dam project forward has been delayed due to difference in opinion amongst the countries represented by the MRC Joint Committee. At this point, The MRC Joint Committee has requested an extension on the decision-making process, to allow for more research into the scope of the potential impact, which could forever change the landscape of this important, life-sustaining resource for South East Asia.

The International Sustainable Development Studies Institute (ISDSI)

The International Sustainable Development Studies Institute (ISDSI) is a recognized leader in innovative study-abroad programs.

In 2005 ISDSI’s People Environment and Development program was recognized as one of three “best practice” programs by the Institute of International Education (IIE) Andrew Heiskell Awards, and in 2006 was nominated as a UNESCO Centre of Excellence.

The International Sustainable Development Studies Institute (ISDSI) began as an initiative of the Center for International Programs at Kalamazoo College. The Institute exists to help develop experiential educational programs with other schools, organizations or groups. In addition ISDSI’s core semester length program, People Environment and Development, the institute also hosts a number of short term (multi-week) study-abroad, service-learning and related programs.

For more information, please go to the ISDSI website.

 

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2011 at 11:14 am. It is filed under Assignment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.