Questions over China dams
Some questions remain about whether hydro dams on the upper Mekong River in China exacerbated conditions during Cambodia’s devastating drought of 2010, environmental groups say, as China’s dam program powers ahead. When the first power-generating unit was switched on last month at China’s giant 262-metre tall Nuozhadu hydroelectric dam, which will be largest on the river when completed in 2014, state-run newspaper the China Daily sang its praises as a dam that would significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Extensive research, the China Daily added, also showed potential impacts of the Nuozhadu and others dams on countries downstream – including Cambodia, where fishing communities along the Mekong fear Laos’s proposed Xayaburi dam – would be minimal. … China has announced plans for at least seven hydroelectric dams on its section of the Mekong, although reports outside of China suggest it plans to build more.
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