Dam Development Is ‘Silencing’ the Mekong River
In five days, the Xayaburi Hydropower Project on the Mekong River in northern Laos will formally begin operations. As the first dam on the lower Mekong mainstream, this marks a turning point for the Mekong River.
The Mekong River is 4,350 kilometers (2,703 miles) long, ranked 12th in length and eighth in water discharge in the world. The river originates in the Tibetan Plateau and flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand before pouring into the alluvial floodplains and delta in Cambodia and Vietnam.
