Mekong River Basin

Building trust in a contentious arena

The single largest intervention to affect water use, management and productivity in the Mekong today is the hydropower development of the Mekong River. Virtually every study of the impact of the dams on the Mekong River ecosystem predicts substantial environmental and social costs as a consequence of dam-building.

The Mekong River is an economic lifeline for more than 60 million people. The Mekong BDC works primarily in sites in three countries of the Mekong, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, but also works with network partners in China and Thailand.

The hydropower sector is vital for the economies and development of the basin’s countries. CPWF aims to increase the benefits derived from this sector, and to contribute towards minimizing the negative impacts of dam-building.

The Mekong Basin Development Challenge

To reduce poverty and foster development by optimizing the use of water in reservoirs.

Mekong Projects

• MK1 Optimizing WSI management for livelihoods
• MK2 Water valuation
• MK3 Optimizing cascades or systems of reservoirs in small catchments
• MK4 Water governance
• MK5 Coordination and multistakeholder platforms
• MK6 Hydropower governance and multi-stakeholder platforms
• MK7 M-POWER–CPWF Research Fellowships Program
• MK8 Improving hydropower decision-making processes
• MK9 Participatory assessment of the impacts of dams
• MK10 Hydropower social safeguards
• MK11 Communications to improve participation in decision-making
• MK13 Gender justice in hydropower
• MK14 Role of renewables in Mekong power supply
• MK16 Evidenced-based integrated water resource management
• MK18 Companion Modelling

Research into Use Project