Study calls for halt to dams

A new study and accompanying short film released yesterday call for all lower Mekong dam developers to halt plans until further impact studies can be made.

Hydropower dams will have a greater impact on river flows than even climate change, according to research by the University of Canterbury and the Mekong River Commission.

The report, released yesterday, is the distillation of three years of research on the Sekong, Srepok and Sesan (3S) Rivers, and provided background for the new documentary short, Hydropower Impacts and Alternatives.

Both the report and the film, produced in part by the NGO Conservation International, emphasize the need to balance conservation with Cambodia’s growing energy sector and the 42 dams proposed for the 3S river basin. …

Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/study-calls-halt-dams