China Dam Hurts Vietnam Farmers

news.yahoo.com...

Just 15 years ago, Southeast Asia's longest river carried some 143 million tonnes of sediment – as heavy as about 430 Empire State Buildings – through to the Mekong River Delta every year, dumping nutrients along riverbanks essential to keeping tens of thousands of farms like Cung's intact and productive.

But as Chinese-built hydroelectric dams have mushroomed upriver, much of that sediment is being blocked, an analysis of satellite data by Germany-based aquatic remote sensing company EOMAP and Reuters shows.
At the current rate of decline, the commission estimated, less than five million tonnes of sediment will reach the delta each year by 2040.

Stretching nearly 5,000 kilometres from the Plateau of Tibet to the South China Sea, the Mekong is a farming and fishing lifeline for tens of millions as it swirls through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia before reaching Vietnam.

"The river is not bringing sediment, the soil is salinized..."

unintended consequences.

The USA government exists in part to settle disputes between states. Interstate highways, interstate commerce, and rivers which cross state lines.
now we have the international version.

Dreamers hoped the UN would be able to settle international disputes, but the UN is toothless, and in many corners, not at all trusted.

I can't see China backing away from a major project on behalf of some Vietnam farmers.

and China certainly can justify efforts to improve their agriculture (not to mention flood control).

complicated world we live in. I hope they can find a peaceful way to settle this.

anyone with experience with??

A question needs to be posed.

Where is the annual 143 million tonnes of sediment going?

It is being blocked by the dams!

How many years will it take to fill those dams with sediment?

Then what?

P

originally posted by: pheonix358
A question needs to be posed.

Where is the annual 143 million tonnes of sediment going?

It is being blocked by the dams!

How many years will it take to fill those dams with sediment?

Then what?

P

I believe all the major dams have a "flushing out of debris " system. But where it ends up is anyone's guess. I also would think it eventually will raise the water level of the river with the mud and other crap going into it. Also, have you seen the YT video of china's waterways just littered with garbage?

a reply to: ElGoobero

When the Vietnamese finally revolt, the CCP isn't going to care about public opinion.

Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

a reply to: ElGoobero

The structure of the UN makes it so that the security members can be belligerent, the US included. Veto power is what makes it toothless, and wielders don’t just use it for themselves but their allies alike.

Shame really. We saw the League of Nations fall for its own reasons, and the UN seems equally as inept. Many would suggest it’s nefarious and baked in, and that may be the case. I reserve the possibility it was necessary for it’s time as a sign of good faith to bring the players to the table.

But we will see wars over water in our lifetime. It’s being horribly mismanaged. We’ve seen the wars for control of energy, but at the end of the day you can change the mix on that and we have several times even in a few generations. There’s no replacing water though, and there’s a misconception it’s perpetual.

a reply to: ElGoobero

The USA government exists in part to settle disputes between states. Interstate highways, interstate commerce, and rivers which cross state lines.

They still have the collapsing infrastructures despite govt..