All rice fields along the road were bone dry.
There were a few watering holes along the way, but these seemed close to drying up too.
The Mekong river was also quite low with islands visible and green with vegetation.
Been a few years now, when the water level submerged the steps leading up to the immigration office.
Normal level July 2003
That's not the drought causing the drastic drop in the river's water level.
It's Dams in China.
They have three operating dams and plan more. Laos is also in the process of building dams.
There are plans for a total of 19 dams.
At that rate future travelers may well be able to wade across.
For the moment, downstream countries have pleaded with China to release more water.
Additional reading Damned Chinese: mighty Mekong a memory
review-of-contested-waterscapes-in-mekong
No comments:
Post a Comment