River Tales
International river [riparian] relations are not limited to advanced or developing nations. Water is certain to be the single largest concern for global populations and governments.
UPDATE: The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism, launched in March 2016, manifests the spirit of “shared river, shared future”. It aims to bolster the economic and social development of sub-regional countries, enhance the well-being of the people in the Lancang-Mekong region and narrow development gaps.
A Mekong River intergovernmental body has warned against jumping to conclusions about data on the waterway, saying that politics may get in the way of closer cooperation between upstream and downstream countries along the waterway.
Laos hosted a four-day Mekong River Commission leadership summit and conference last week, focusing on this vital waterway for Southeast Asia. This was the fourth MRC summit, the last held five years ago in 2018.
The US federal government has laid out two options for preventing the Colorado River’s depleted reservoirs from falling to critically low levels, saying water cuts could be imposed across the Southwest by following the water-rights priority system or by using an across-the-board percentage.
For decades, so much water has been diverted from the Colorado to supply farms and cities that the river has seldom met the sea and much of its delta in Mexico has been reduced to a dry riverbed, with only small remnants of its once-vast wetlands surviving.
Ethiopia has called on Egypt to change its "counterproductive posture" and find mutually beneficial agreements with Addis Ababa over the massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dam project. The dispute between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt has been ongoing for years. Ethiopia is the main source of the Nile, contributing 86 per cent of the water to the Nile basin states while utilising less than 1 per cent of the Nile's potential for hydroelectric power. Egypt had issued a fresh warning that "all options are on the table" to deal with any threats to its water supply posed by the Ethiopian mega dam.
Shared river, shared future
The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism, launched in March 2016, manifests the spirit of “shared river, shared future”. It aims to bolster the economic and social development of sub-regional countries, enhance the well-being of the people in the Lancang-Mekong region, narrow development gaps and support the community building of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as promoting the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and advancing South-South Cooperation.
The Global Development Initiative (GDI), proposed in September 2021 in the context of the changes taking place in the global development landscape, aims to address unbalanced and inadequate development among and within countries, so as to shift beyond the model of unrestricted growth associated with the environmental degradation and socioeconomic inequalities that are evident in much of the developing world and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Over the years, the LMC mechanism has made tremendous progress in terms of institution-building, cooperation scope and project financing. As such, it can provide a multilateral platform for the implementation of the Global Development Initiative.
First, there is a high level of political trust and strong political will for development cooperation between China and the Mekong countries. China has signed comprehensive strategic cooperation partnerships with all the five Mekong countries.
The LMC mechanism has also created a multi-layer institutional framework to facilitate policy coordination and connectivity that spans from the leaders’ meetings to foreign ministers’ meetings, senior officials’ meetings, and diplomatic and sectoral joint working group meetings. The Global Development Initiative has been well received in the region and all five Mekong countries have joined the GDI Group of Friends.
Second, the LMC mechanism and the Global Development Initiative share the same concepts. These include leaving no one behind, people-centered development and harmony between man and nature, as well as mutual respect, equal treatment, sincerity and mutual assistance. Both the LMC mechanism and the Global Development Initiative are open and inclusive in nature.
For example, the LMC countries have committed to purse closer cooperation with other Mekong-related mechanisms, including the Mekong River Commission, the Greater Mekong Sub-region and the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy.
The Global Development Initiative highlights global development partnerships, putting multilateralism into practice, following the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and working with international and regional organizations.
Third, both the LMC mechanism and the Global Development Initiative emphasize a holistic approach. For example, the”3+5+X” practical cooperation framework has been established by the LMC members.
The “3” pillars cover political and security issues, economic and sustainable development, and social and culture cooperation; the “5” priority areas consist of connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economy, water resources, and agriculture and poverty; and the “x” refers to other important issues such as non-traditional security, culture, tourism, education, health and the media, among others proposed by member countries.
Meanwhile, the Global Development Initiative has prioritized eight areas, namely poverty reduction, food security, public health, financing for development, climate change and green development, industrialization, the digital economy and digital-era connectivity.
Given the multitude of socioeconomic, environmental and governance problems facing the region and the world, it is important to note many of the priority issues are interlinked and require systemic interventions.
Fourth, both the LMC mechanism and the Global Development Initiative advocate a development first and people-centered approach. The LMC mechanism has already offered many tangible benefits to the downstream Mekong countries in terms of interconnectivity, water resources management, poverty reduction and regional economic integration.
Through concessional loans, preferential export policies, buyers’ credit and special credit lines, China has supported over 40 infrastructure projects in the Mekong countries, including the Siem Reap New International Airport, Vientiane power grid upgrade and China-Laos railway.
In Cambodia and Laos, China has helped establish production, processing, logistics and distribution agricultural cooperation demonstration zones for rice, rubber, fruits, vegetables, and livestock products. As of 2021, China had also sponsored over 500 “small but smart “projects in agriculture, health, poverty reduction, environment and other areas through the no-strings-attached LMC Special Fund.
To seek greater synergy between the LMC mechanism and the Global Development Initiative and enable Mekong countries to become the demonstration pilots of the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, good development practices should be at the center of LMC cooperation.
This may include understanding the importance of and developing the tools to better incorporate social, environmental and fiscal considerations into development plans, and providing consultation processes, so that plans and projects may be better attuned to the needs and interests of partner countries and affected communities.
Read more here.
Don’t jump to conclusions over data on distressed Mekong River
A Chinese official in a Mekong River intergovernmental body has warned against jumping to conclusions about data on the waterway, saying that politics may get in the way of closer cooperation between upstream and downstream countries along the waterway. “Some parties start with preconceptions, and even come to a conclusion before they analyse the data,” Mr Hao Zhao, secretary-general of the Beijing-based Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Centre, told The Straits Times.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) international conference and summit in Vientiane, Laos. Data is merely a tool for further inquiry, he said, referring to the United States-backed Mekong Dam Monitor run by the Stimson Centre which uses remote sensing and satellite imagery to keep track of dam operations and water levels along the waterway.
“If you start with preconceptions and identify someone or some country as the guilty party, you will not reach a scientific conclusion”
While technical experts on the ground may concur with their interpretation of the problem, “some incorrect understanding and incorrect reports cause the people to form certain opinions, which forces governments to declare (one party) wrong”, he said. “In reality, this is not the case and it will affect future cooperation between upstream and downstream countries.”
The 4,900km Mekong, which originates in the Tibetan Plateau, is South-east Asia’s largest river and runs through China – where it is called the Lancang – to Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before it opens up into the sea.
Climate change and rapid dam-building along its mainstream and tributaries have threatened its fisheries as well as blocked the passage of silt needed to regenerate the environment downstream. The MRC is an inter-governmental body comprising Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand established in 1995 to manage sustainable development of the downstream river basin.
In 2016, China supported the creation of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC). The mechanism includes the four MRC countries, as well as China and Myanmar, and covers economic and agriculture-related cooperation, apart from those relating to water.
There are more than 100 dams on the Mekong’s tributaries as well as mainstream, including those spread across Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Laos, in particular, has pursued a development model based on the export of hydropower to countries like China, Thailand and even as far as Singapore. Its projects have raised concern in Cambodia and Vietnam, which is struggling with saltwater intrusion during the dry season.
In an address in Vientiane on Monday, Dr Anoulak Kittikhoun, chief executive officer of the MRC secretariat, painted a dire picture of the Mekong, saying that sediment-trapping and sand-mining have reduced sediment transport by 60 per cent to 90 per cent. Meanwhile, drought frequency has increased from 2010 to 2020 compared to the previous decade.
A joint study is being conducted by all six countries along the Mekong to examine changing hydrological conditions along the river and propose adaptation measures. Dr Anoulak told ST that different countries have different views about what is causing changes in the river.
“The joint study is to build this common understanding,” he said. “It takes time.”
The idea is to look at all the parties’ available data and “hopefully (arrive at a conclusion) that it’s producing roughly similar trends”. This would then allow them to focus on the recommendations on what to do next. Mr Hao told ST that there is room for greater coordination in the operation of all the dams along the Mekong. Upstream reservoirs, for example, can release water in a manner and according to a schedule that would be beneficial to those downstream. “If all the (Mekong) basin countries can achieve a reasonable consensus on water release, it would lead to a larger scale and better management of the infrastructure,” he said.
Read more here.
Mekong: Turning declaration into actions
Laos hosted a four-day Mekong River Commission leadership summit and conference last week, focusing on this vital waterway for Southeast Asia. This was the fourth MRC summit, the last held five years ago in 2018. The latest talks focused on innovation and cooperation, a crucial concern as the Mekong region has faced growing challenges, including the steady increase in hydropower projects as a result of rapid economic development of the riparian states, including China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Cheap, renewable energy is considered crucial to meet increasing electricity demands in the region, especially given volatile prices in international energy markets and concerns over carbon emissions.
Today, the Mekong is undergoing tremendous transformation linked to a changing flow regime, increased population and water use, and floods and droughts affecting the 65 million people that rely on the river system. The impact of climate change is visible through devastating droughts in the last few years, with downstream countries feeling the brunt, especially Vietnam’s rice fields and Cambodia’s fisheries.
The theme of the summit recognised what MRC CEO Anoulak Kittikhoun described as “significant opportunities to make development more optimal and sustainable, preserve key wetlands, watersheds and floodplains, and increase the resilience of our countries and communities”. An international conference preceding the formal summit saw more than 600 participants gathering in Vientiane – three times the number of attendees at the first summit in 2010 – with participants from all over the world representing governments, the private sector, academia and media as well as not-for profit organisations. It was a sign of immense good will for the health of the riverway, although providing some limitations as all events were in English language only.
The conference also heard alarming news about the state of the river.
MRC CEO Kittikhoun spoke of not only a changing flow regime – with an average outflow of water in 2022 only half of that compared to 1995 – with impacts on the crucial dispersion of sediment, which has been reduced by 60 per cent in Phnom Penh alone. But he also warned of the proliferation of plastic waste, with microplastics found in 20 per cent of sampled fish in 2022.
On 5 April, leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the Secretary-General of the National Water Resources of Thailand issued the Vientiane Declaration to re-affirm a commitment to support development and operational decisions through improved use of technology, regional planning and coordinated operational management.
This declaration showcased a commitment to support the river system, but whether that translates into urgently needed innovation and collaboration is questionable. Such promises have been made before. Action now is key in addressing significant challenges in the Mekong River basin, which supports the livelihoods of the millions who live directly on its riverbanks and rely on the river for food, accommodation and employment, along with future generations.
Read more here.
Colorado River Crisis
The US federal government has laid out two options for preventing the Colorado River’s depleted reservoirs from falling to critically low levels, saying water cuts could be imposed across the Southwest by following the water-rights priority system or by using an across-the-board percentage. The stakes in the decision are high for California, which receives the largest share of water from the Colorado River, as well as for Arizona and Nevada. Imposing an equal across-the-board cut would hit California harder, particularly in agricultural regions, while strict adherence to the water-rights priority system would bring larger reductions for cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation presented its alternatives as an initial step in a review aimed at revising the rules for dealing with shortages through 2026. Federal officials said that the proposals still could change and that a solution somewhere between the two options could emerge as representatives of states, water agencies and tribes continue negotiations on how to address the chronic water shortages.
“The prolonged drought afflicting the American West is one of the most significant challenges facing our country today,” Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau said. “We’re in the third decade of a historic drought that has caused conditions that the people who built this system would not have imagined.”
The river’s reservoirs have declined dramatically during 23 years of drought intensified by climate change. Even after storms that have blanketed the Rocky Mountains with the largest snowpack since 1997, federal officials say the likelihood of a return to dry conditions means the region still needs a plan for apportioning additional water cuts if necessary over the next three years.
Representatives of seven states, water agencies and native tribes have been discussing options for reducing water use to prevent the reservoirs from dropping toward dangerously low levels.,Officials said they need plans in place to protect critical levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell and prevent them from dropping so low that the dams would stop generating power and water deliveries would be at risk.
The agency is revising the 2007 guidelines for its operations of Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam, which include measures for dealing with shortages through 2026 — but which federal officials say would no longer be sufficient if reservoirs continue to decline.
The Biden administration released its options more than two months after officials from California and six other states presented conflicting proposals for water reductions. Whatever option the federal government decides to choose, much will depend on reservoir levels over the next three years. Both Lake Powell and Lake Mead are still expected to remain well below half-full., Since 2000, the river’s flow has decreased by about 20% below the 20th century average. Scientists have found that roughly half the decline in the river’s flow has been due to higher temperatures, which have intensified one of the worst droughts in centuries.
The Interior Department has also begun providing funds to address drought, pay for conservation efforts and improve water infrastructure, drawing on $8.3 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $4.6 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Last week, federal officials announced that the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona will receive $150 million over the next three years to pay for reducing water use and leaving water in Lake Mead.
Tribes have vital roles to play in working toward the long-term health and sustainability of the river, said Rosa Long, vice chair of the Cocopah Indian Tribe.
“We must remember that our actions today will have a profound impact on the world our children and grandchildren will inherit. We owe it to them to work together to find solutions,” Long said. “It’s going to take all of us, and it is a very scary situation.”
Read more here.
Mexico seeks to restore its lost oasis
When the Colorado River reaches the U.S.-Mexico border, it pushes up against Morelos Dam. Mexico is entitled to receive 1.5 million acre-feet of water per year under a 1944 treaty. Last year, Mexico’s share was cut by 5%. This year, it will lose 7% of its water. For decades, so much water has been diverted to supply farms and cities that the Colorado River has seldom met the sea and much of its delta in Mexico has been reduced to a dry riverbed, with only small remnants of its once-vast wetlands surviving.
More than a century ago, the river’s delta spread across 1.9 million acres of wetlands and forests. The conservationist Aldo Leopold, who canoed through the delta in 1922, described it as “a hundred green lagoons” and said he paddled through waters “of a deep emerald hue.” He described it as an oasis that teemed with fish, birds, beavers, deer and jaguars. In the years after his visit, so much water has been diverted that the river seldom meets the sea. Much of the delta has shriveled to stretches of dry riverbed, with only small remnants of its wetlands surviving.
Restauremos El Colorado manages one of three habitat restoration areas in the delta, where native trees that were planted six years ago have grown into a forest that drapes the wetland in shade. Last spring, a stream of water was released from a canal and flowed into the wetland, restoring a stretch of river where previously there had been miles of desert sand.
After the pulses of water, De la Parra and his colleagues have seen vegetation flourish along the river channel. Biologists have counted about 120 species of birds. And motion-activated wildlife cameras have captured images of beavers swimming and gnawing on tree trunks.
De la Parra and others say the efforts in the delta have been a resounding success, showing that even small amounts of water can be used to revive ecosystems that were largely destroyed decades ago. Most of the time, the estuary is starved of a river. The shores near the river’s mouth have long been sculpted by the incoming and outgoing tides, which have left branching treelike patterns imprinted in the sands.
The Native Cucapá people who live in the delta have traditionally depended on fishing. The Cucapá still push wooden boats into the estuary to fish for corvina. Hilda Hurtado Valenzuela, a 68-year-old tribal member and president of a Cucapá fishing cooperative, said that when she was growing up, the river always had water. Willows stood along the banks, and her mother would bend a wire to make a hook, baiting it with a piece of tortilla. The freshwater flowing into the saltwater creates vital habitat for fish to reproduce in the estuary. Without that water flowing in, she said, the fish have suffered. “Fishing for the Cucapá people is what we live from, how we feed ourselves, but it’s also part of our culture. The Colorado River is part of our culture.”
Read more here.
Nile River: Egypt Blames Ethiopia
Ethiopia has called on Egypt to change its "counterproductive posture" and find mutually beneficial agreements with Addis Ababa over the massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dam project. The dispute between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt has been ongoing for years. Ethiopia is the main source of the Nile, contributing 86 per cent of the water to the Nile basin states while utilising less than 1 per cent of the Nile's potential for hydroelectric power. Egypt had issued a fresh warning that "all options are on the table" to deal with any threats to its water supply posed by the Ethiopian mega dam.
"All options are open, and all alternatives remain available, and Egypt has its capabilities, its foreign relations, and its capabilities," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry warned.
Ethiopia has urged Egypt to forego its historic hydro-hegemonic stance and start to commit itself for cooperation on the long-standing dispute over the utilisation of the Nile River's water resources. Ethiopia has asked Egyptian leaders to engage in constructive dialogue with their Ethiopian counterparts and steer away from their "counterproductive posture" of calling for a "binding agreement" on the GERD filling and the subsequent operations as an imposing instrument on water sharing that Ethiopians will never accept.
"Belligerent positions by Egyptian leaders stating all options are open’’ are contrary to the spirit of the 2015 Declaration of Principles signed by Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt"
"Efforts to destabilise Ethiopia by the regime in Egypt, will indeed affect the long-term interest of the Egyptian people and make Ethiopians less trusting in cooperating on the GERD and future hydropower projects on the Nile."
The organisations also urged the Arab League and its member states to refrain from interfering in the issue of the GERD, which is the sole concern of the three riparian countries and their shared regional organisation (the African Union), which is mediating the talks to find 'African Solutions to African Problems’.
"The issues remaining on the table at the trilateral negotiations under the auspices of the African Union are being narrowed to a handful of critical matters on equity and Justice, on which the Arab league nations have no business nor legal right to be involved" the statement added.
"The GERD will promote regional cooperation and integration while offering an opportunity for eleven (11) countries of the Nile Basin (Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda) to work together to manage the river's resources more effectively" the joint statement added.
The dam, which would be Africa's largest, is solely financed by Ethiopians and is a crucial project for the country's development, as it will provide clean, renewable energy and lift millions out of poverty. About 65% of the estimated 122 million of Ethiopia's population lacks access to any form of electricity. The much-needed electricity is hoped to facilitate economic growth for Ethiopia and the region.