Food security key issue in mekong dam debate

Not only is the waterway home to millions of people, but the freshwater fish it supplies is a major food source for the people of four different countries

The ministerial meeting to decide the fate of the controversial Xayaburi hydropower dam in Laos ended last week without a clear decision on whether member states of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) would oppose the project.

This could open the way for the Lao government and the Thai construction company Ch Karnchang to continue work on the dam without facing the criticism that it has breached the 1995 Mekong Agreement which requires consensus from its member states: Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

The ministers, after a three-day meeting in Siem Reap, Cambodia, concluded that further study on sustainable development for the Mekong and the likely impact of dam development was needed. They said they would approach Japan to help with the task.

It sounds like a wise decision, and was praised by several experts at the Mekong Forum, which was being held in Phnom Penh at the same time. Nearly 200 experts had gathered to come up with recommendations on how best to balance development and conservation to ensure sustainable development for the region.

But the MRC's decision raises questions about how seriously Mekong River countries are taking steps to ensure that development will be in harmony with the millions of people who earn their livelihoods _ mainly from fishing.

For years, experts have studied the health of the Mekong ecosystem and discovered that it has played a significant role in the richness of biodiversity of river species. However, unlike the Amazon, which is the world's most biologically diverse river, the areas around the Mekong are densely populated.

Dr Eric Baran is a senior scientist of the WorldFish Centre, which helped conduct the project's environmental impact assessment and developed the MRC's environmental assessment for hydropower development on the Mekong. He says that food security is the most critical issue.

''The combination of a high proportion of migratory fish and high dependency of people on river fish is unique, making the Mekong a place where dam development is most critical to regional food security,'' he said. ''So it is not just about environmental conservation and displaced villages. The issue is much bigger than that. The trade-off between hydropower development and regional food security in the Mekong is probably unique in the world.''

Dr Baran, along with other scientists from the centre, has been studying fish in the Mekong for years. They have discovered that the Mekong has 781 fish species, second after the Amazon, which has 1,217. Dr Baran believes that the Mekong has more species, as 28 new one have been discovered, on average, each year during the past decade. Mekong fishermen catch about 2.1 million tonnes of fish each year, around one sixth of the world's freshwater catch.

Communities in Lao's mountainous areas, Thailand's Northeast, Vietnam's south and all of Cambodia depend the most on fishing for their livelihoods.

In Cambodia, studies have found that freshwater fish account for 90% of the country's total fish supply, and 81% of its protein supply.

According to Dr Baran's studies, more than one third of the 2.1 million tonnes harvested each year are migratory fish that need to travel to feed and breed. Dams will block that migration.

One scenario in the MRC's environmental assessment shows that if all 88 dams are built, by 2030 up to 81% of the Mekong Basin will not be accessible to migratory fish. But scientists also agree that the dam projects can possibly coexist with other activities essential to people's livelihoods.

To lessen the impact, one of their suggestions is to build the dams on the river's tributaries instead. Also as the river tends to be more biologically diverse downstream, it would be preferable to build the dams upstream.

Dam planners also need to be more adaptable.

While dam developers tend to build dams for optimum use, Dr Baran says they need to strike a compromise in their designs to ensure that the river's other possible uses are not impeded.

The height of dams should not exceed 30m to allow the construction of effective fish passes. According to his team's study, the Xayaburi dam would block migration of at least 70 fish species.

He also suggested constructing dams on man-made canals rather than natural waterways to lessen the impact of these projects, a practice which has become common in Europe, especially France.

Dr Baran said that dams should be planned as multi-purpose structures and prior to them being built, a thorough assessment should be made of the trade-offs between power generation and environmental and social costs.

Due to the potential losses of food security and millions of people's livelihoods, the Mekong countries made a wise decision last week to take a further look at sustainable development in the region.

It would also be wise for the dam developers and the Lao government to take a stand by stopping construction and conducting further studies of their own to ensure the project is in harmony with people's lives.

• Published: Bangkok Post 12 December, 2011
• Writer: Piyaporn Wongruang
• Newspaper section: News