Freedumb! The Economist Wonders Aloud Whether As Many As 9 Mekong River Dams Might Hurt Fisheries
ALONG the banks of the Mekong in Laos, the forest has been stripped and the mountainside gouged out. Construction of the Xayaburi dam, the first on the lower Mekong, is in full swing.
The dam, which will cost $3.5 billion, is being built by Ch. Karnchang, a Thai construction company, and financed by Thailand’s four largest banks. Over nine-tenths of the electricity from the 1,300-megawatt dam will supply Thailand. But WWF, an environmental NGO, has warned that the dam will contribute to the extinction of the endangered Mekong giant catfish, and put many other fish species at risk.
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A study in 2011 comparing two North American rivers and the Mekong concluded that decades of research would be needed to ensure that specialised fish-passage facilities “actually meet the needs of these diverse fisheries of the Mekong”. Poyry’s senior project manager has conceded that “whether the fish get across [the dam], you’ll only see when it is built.”
Laotian officials say the dam will little harm the river’s health, but Jian-Hua Meng, an engineering expert and WWF consultant, says Poyry is gambling with technology that has never been tested on a tropical river. It is high-risk, he says. “They are playing roulette with the livelihoods of over 60m people. It would not be acceptable in Europe, so why is it different in Asia?”
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http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21585000-dam-takes-shape-fierce-opposition-continues-fish-friendly