Dams and fisheries in the Mekong Basin

Baran, E.; Myschowoda, C.

doi:10.1080/14634980903149902

Cited by 192 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Apart from its important role as a food source, the MRB is also a biodiversity hotspot for many species, in particular fish (6), and is characterized by large-scale fish migrations (7,8). Both fish production and species richness are now threatened by imminent construction of hydropower plants on tributaries as well as on the Mekong River itself (3,(9)(10)(11)(12)(13). Although main-stem dams have been the subject of a thorough strategic assessment (14), transboundary cumulative impact assessment for tributary dams is still lacking (2,10).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Trading-off fish biodiversity, food security, and hydropower in the Mekong River Basin

Ziv¹,

Baran²,

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

827

550

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The Mekong River Basin, site of the biggest inland fishery in the world, is undergoing massive hydropower development. Planned dams will block critical fish migration routes between the river's downstream floodplains and upstream tributaries. Here we estimate fish biomass and biodiversity losses in numerous damming scenarios using a simple ecological model of fish migration. Our framework allows detailing trade-offs between dam locations, power production, and impacts on fish resources. We find that the completion of 78 dams on tributaries, which have not previously been subject to strategic analysis, would have catastrophic impacts on fish productivity and biodiversity. Our results argue for reassessment of several dams planned, and call for a new regional agreement on tributary development of the Mekong River Basin.sustainable development | hydropower planning | fish species richness

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Trading-off fish biodiversity, food security, and hydropower in the Mekong River Basin

Ziv¹,

Baran²,

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

827

550

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show abstract

“…The production of biofuels can The hydropower development in the region will improve regional energy security but it will have direct implications on food security. While the dams are expected to improve irrigation opportunities for agriculture [106], they will have major negative impacts on the aquatic ecosystems [96,107,108] and thus on livelihoods and food security [97]. In the Mekong River, the dams will affect the flow regimes [109], sediment [110] and nutrient transport [111] and fish migration [112], which are all key factors of the immense fisheries of the river.…”

Section: Mekong Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, the transboundary Mekong River presents a topical case for the water-energy-food nexus due to its rapid hydropower development and the major importance of water and related resources-including fish and rice, the region's staple food-for regional food security ( Figure 5) [32,66,[92][93][94][95]. The high availability of water has enabled the region to become one of the world's largest rice producers, and the Mekong River itself is considered to be one of the world's most productive inland fisheries [96]. The water-related activities are an important part of the regional economy and provide livelihoods and food security for millions of people [97].…”

Section: Mekong Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Water-Energy-Food Nexus and the Transboundary Context: Insights from Large Asian Rivers

Keskinen

Guillaume

Kattelus

et al. 2016

Water

124

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Abstract:The water-energy-food nexus is a topical subject for research and practice, reflecting the importance of these sectors for humankind and the complexity and magnitude of the challenges they are facing. While the nexus as a concept is not yet mature or fully tested in practice, it has already encouraged a range of approaches in a variety of contexts. This article provides a set of definitions recognizing three perspectives that see the nexus as an analytical tool, governance framework and as an emerging discourse. It discusses the implications that an international transboundary context brings to the nexus and vice versa. Based on a comparative analysis of three Asian regions-Central Asia, South Asia and the Mekong Region-and their related transboundary river basins, we propose that the transboundary context has three major implications: diversity of scales and perspectives, importance of state actors and importance of politics. Similarly, introducing the nexus as an approach in a transboundary context has a potential to provide new resources and approaches, alter existing actor dynamics and portray a richer picture of relationships. Overall, the significance of water-energy-food linkages and their direct impacts on water allocation mean that the nexus has the potential to complement existing approaches also in the transboundary river basins.

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“…After 1980, with the uprising consciousness of environmental protection, people became cautious of the construction of water transfer projects and a series of reports came out concerning the negative ecological impacts of both construction and operation of these projects (Davies et al, 1992;Meador, 1992;Nardini et al, 1997). Since then, countries all over the world have begun to conduct environmental impact assessment of water transfer projects, and carried out thorough research on related environmental issues and ecological influence (Graf, 2006;Morais, 2008;Braatne et al, 2008;Kittinger et al, 2009;Baran and Myschowoda, 2009;Growns et al, 2009;Wu et al, 2010;Olden and Naiman, 2010). At the same time, laws and regulations in terms of the construction and operation of water transfer projects were published so as to mitigate and even prevent the ecological and environmental problems (Yang, 2003;Wang, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative analysis on the environmental impact of large-scale water transfer project on water resource area in a changing environment

Yan

Wang

et al. 2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The interbasin long-distance water transfer project is key support for the reasonable allocation of water resources in a large-scale area, which can optimize the spatiotemporal change of water resources to secure the amount of water available. Large-scale water transfer projects have a deep influence on ecosystems; besides, global climate change causes uncertainty and additive effect of the environmental impact of water transfer projects. Therefore, how to assess the ecological and environmental impact of megaprojects in both construction and operation phases has triggered a lot of attention. The water-output area of the western route of China's South-North Water Transfer Project was taken as the study area of the present article. According to relevant evaluation principles and on the basis of background analysis, we identified the influencing factors and established the diagnostic index system. The climate-hydrology-ecology coupled simulation model was used to simulate and predict ecological and environmental responses of the water resource area in a changing environment. The emphasis of impact evaluation was placed on the reservoir construction and operation scheduling, representative river corridors and wetlands, natural reserves and the water environment below the dam sites. In the end, an overall evaluation of the comprehensive influence of the project was conducted. The research results were as follows: the environmental impacts of the western route project in the water resource area were concentrated on two aspects: the permanent destruction of vegetation during the phase of dam construction and river impoundment, and the significant influence on the hydrological situation of natural river corridor after the implementation of water extraction. The impact on local climate, vegetation ecology, typical wetlands, natural reserves and the water environment of river basins below the dam sites was small.

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Dams and fisheries in the Mekong Basin

Cited by 192 publications

References 4 publications

Trading-off fish biodiversity, food security, and hydropower in the Mekong River Basin

Trading-off fish biodiversity, food security, and hydropower in the Mekong River Basin

The Water-Energy-Food Nexus and the Transboundary Context: Insights from Large Asian Rivers

Quantitative analysis on the environmental impact of large-scale water transfer project on water resource area in a changing environment

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