The Mekong river always provides water for the community people to cultivate on millions of hectares of land and it is also yielding inputs of more than 3 million tons of fish. But the natural resources are suffering under the threat of building water dams for hydroelectricity taking advantage. The question is whether they could keep developing hydroelectricity or they persist to conserve the existing natural resources.
Building the hydroelectricity dams along the Mekong and its basin are still processing but those who work for environmental conservation just make a voice then prevail nothing against dam development.
The Mekong is originated in China which is the only river in the world that has been building many hydro electricity dams. Obviously, today one Chinese province has built completely water dams for electricity process in their projects. Besides, other nations located at the Greater Mekong sub-region like Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand have been submitting proposals to develop many more dams.
Developing dam projects have been implemented for years ago but the most pressing concerns for the environmental conservatives as of today are that they start to construct the dams inside of the river basin directly. Previously, they had constructed them on the affluent of a river/ tributary only. It is good to construct the dams but it is harmful to the natural resources in the Mekong basin as well.
The experts say that the benefits from the construction of dams are electricity. It is the foundation for the economic development of the poor countries alongside the river. However, it will change the water regime, and sometimes it is a detriment to the river. Obviously, the community people had alleged the plan of hydroelectricity dam construction in China is causing the lower Mekong to became even increasingly shallow.
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) which consists of a variety of members from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand also issued a report in their meeting to specify the harmfulness to natural resources and hydroelectricity development projects. The report entailed that there have 60 million populations are living around the Sub-region of the Mekong river basically rely on this river resources. Agriculture serves as a major sector based in the sub-region of the Mekong due to around 10 million hectares of land were used for rice-producing.
There are also over 3 million tons of annual aquarium inputs in the river including natural fishing and rearing. The Mekong serves as crucial navigation for human and goods exchange. Over 3 hundred thousand tons of goods were transported through ships from China, and Thailand back and forth.
The Wildlife NGO has explained the impact of dam construction could threaten many species of exotic mega fish, for example, a Giant Catfish in the river are at risk and being endangered if the construction development plan goes on. The reasons for those fish endanger, they could not swim across the huge barriers of the dams into the fish-spawning habitats at the upper Mekong streams.
These species of mega fish are the biggest ones among the 10 biggest species in the world. According to the MRC estimation indicated that the river could create potentials of hydroelectricity of 30 thousand Megawatts.
In conclusion, it is the proper time for both parties of those who love to conserve the environment bio-diversities and those who construct the water dams sitting down in the round table to discuss and identify specifically whether how much the benefits from the development of dams and environment effect so that we are able to resolve any issues related to the river taking advantage.
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