Dam channel’s classification hotly debated
As Laos pushes toward its goal of becoming the “battery of Asia” through hydropower, its newfound claim that the location for the proposed Don Sahong dam is not on the Mekong River’s main stream is provoking incredulity from some observers. Less than two kilometres north of the Lao-Cambodian border, where the Don Sahong is slated to be built, developers call the Hou Sahong channel a Mekong tributary. Under the 1995 Mekong Agreement, that would require downstream neighbours only be notified – rather than consulted – before construction of a dam. “But it’s not on a tributary, it’s on a channel in the middle of the Mekong,” said Meach Mean, coordinator of the 3S Rivers Protection Network. “This is the one channel that fish can migrate up year-round to spawn; they cannot swim up the other channels in the dry season.” According to regulations outlined by the Mekong River Commission, if a dam changes mainstream river flow in the dry season, or diverts water from the mainstream in the rainy season, the country building it must consult with other member states prior to construction. …
Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/dam-channel%E2%80%99s-classification-hotly-debated
