Chinese dams not to blame for low Mekong water levels: report
While its own people in Texas are in dire straits amid an electricity-related crisis, the US has turned its attention to the Mekong water resource issue, while turning a blind eye to China’s efforts to resolve the problems.
Ned Price, US State Department spokesperson, raised “concerns over the dropping water levels of the Mekong River,” in a tweet on February 23, after the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in mid-February expressed concern that the water level in the river had come down to “alarming levels” due to water control in upstream dams in China. The MRC said the lower water levels endanger the livelihoods of downstream people.
The MRC suggested the water shortfall since the beginning of the year is mainly because of lower rainfall, upstream flow changes, hydropower operations in tributaries, and outflow restrictions from the upstream Jinghong dam in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
Hu Yuwei and Lu Hexing
