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PHNOM PENH, Jun 9 (IPS) - An explosion of dam building projects along the Sekong River in Laos, the Mekong river’s largest tributary, is prompting Cambodian and foreign experts to warn of significant downstream impacts and call for new approaches to governing the cross-border issues that arise from the use of the Mekong’s water resources.

Communities on both sides of the border are completely in the dark about what is occurring, say non-government organisations and local residents.

Even the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the inter-governmental body charged with coordinating the use of the Mekong’s resources, is scrambling to keep up with the number of projects and enforce member countries’ obligations under the 1995 MRC agreement between downstream nations Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

“Cambodia is a legitimate stakeholder when it comes to Lao dams on the Sekong River. But so far there has been very little discussion that I am aware of between the two governments about what is happening,” fisheries expert Ian Baird told a seminar in Phnom Penh on the issue in late May.

The Sekong begins in Vietnam and winds through Laos and then Cambodia until it meets two other major rivers, the Sre Pok and Sesan. It then flows into the Mekong in the northern Cambodian province of Stung Treng.

The Mekong’s largest sub-basin, the Sekong comprises some 28,000 square kilometres, the majority of it in Laos. But about 5,000 square kilometres are located in Cambodia, and contributes nearly 20 percent of the Mekong’s flow.

Six dams have either been completed, are under construction or are undergoing various stages of feasibility study on the Lao section of the Sekong, and anywhere up to another 10 are on the drawing board.

For local Lao and Cambodian people, the cumulative impacts could be huge, including changes to water flows and quality, fisheries, riverbank agriculture and animal husbandry.

In particular, Cambodian groups fear that the 50,000 people living along the Sekong may face a re-run of the situation that resulted from dam construction on the Vietnamese section of the Sesan River some years ago.

Among the downstream effects from the first dam to be built in the mid-nineties were a major reduction in fisheries and changes in water flow, including flash floods that resulted in 39 deaths, say local activists.

While many of the impacts may be a familiar story, the involvement of many of the players in dam projects and other development on the Sekong is not.

New players have stepped in to take up projects, many of which would have been seen as too economically risky and politically controversial by Western companies and traditional donor agencies a decade ago.

While the latter are still involved at a number of levels, the main impetus for the hydropower projects and studies is now coming from Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese and Russian companies. Some are virtual unknowns, supported by a mixture of regional commercial banks, export credit agencies and politically motivated development aid.

Local groups state that these groups have engaged in little, if any, consultation with local communities, even those scheduled to be relocated because of dam plans.

“Although we have been noticing changes in the river, we know nothing about what is taking place on the Lao side of the border,” said Sim Dan, a Cambodian fisher attending the May meeting whose village is on the Sekong, 20 kilometres from Laos.

Provincial governments and national government agencies on both sides of the border for the most part have also been left in the dark, critics say.

Even key government agencies such as the Cambodian National Mekong Committee lack information, telling the May meeting they have received no detailed reports about Laos’ hydropower plans for the Sekong.

In addition, critics add that there are major flaws in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes for many of these projects.

Best practice and in the case of Laos, the country’s own laws, state that that EIAs must be publicly released. Few have been and those that have been seen unofficially have been harshly criticised.

”Some of these studies are being done in three, four months and then they are ready to build,” said Baird. “This is nowhere near enough time.”

“We all know there are problems with the EIA process,” said Baird. “The biggest one is that they are paid for by the company building the dam. They employ the consultants and own the information, and they can change it if they see fit.”

“It relies on the ability of governments to monitor the EIAs to ensure they are good. What happens if this is not the case?” he asked.

The situation has left Cambodian groups searching for ways to engage on the issue.

“For NGOs, it is difficult to directly contact the Lao Government and we are keen for our own government to do more on this,” said Kim Sangha, coordinator of the 3S Rivers Protection Network in Cambodia. “If the Cambodian government knows there will be impacts from these dams, they should talk to the Lao Government and have help to avoid or mitigate these.”

“We have a lot of impacts from the Se San dams and now we face the same issues on the Sekong,” said Chhit Sam Art, executive director of NGO Forum. “We need much more effective benefit sharing between the up and downstream countries.”

“Mechanisms not only need to be in place to ensure better information sharing between member countries, including feasibility studies, but those impacted should have the opportunity to review and comment in them,” he explained.

“There also needs to be a better examination of basin-wide impacts, including transboundary EIAs on certain projects,” Sam Art said.

The Sekong is one of several significant transboundary issues in the Mekong basin, including plans for dams on the mainstream of the river and a recently revived scheme by Thailand to divert water to the drought-stricken north-east of the country.

Many believe that Cambodia’s reaction to the upstream plans of Laos are being muted by its own hydropower ambitions.

Cambodia will open at least nine dams of various sizes between 2010 and 2019 to generate 1942 megawatts of power, according to a recently released report to the Cambodian parliament obtained by Western news agencies in May.

A dam is also being proposed for the confluence of the Sekong, Sesan and Sre Pok Rivers. It will have a major impact on fisheries and reports say it will result in the relocation 5,000 people.

The MRC says that of the six projects currently underway in the Lao section of the Sekong, one was completed before agreement by the four member countries on detailed procedures for notification.

Only one other, the Vietnamese-funded 250-megawatt Xekaman 3, has been notified in accordance with the 1995 MRC agreement and the technical proposal shared with all member states. “Notification should be made to the MRC Joint Committee by the National Mekong Committees prior to any implementation (of dam projects),” confirmed Jeremy Bird, chief executive office of the MRC.

“Notification includes a feasibility study, the implementation plan, schedule of available scientific data and the standard form for MRC notification.”

“The secretariat is currently undertaking a process to encourage member states to notify existing projects retroactively, so as to complete the notification portfolio,” he explained. “Some of the other projects listed are only at early stages of planning. The secretariat is dialoguing with member states to encourage them to notify such projects as early as possible.”

The commission has also employed a consultant from Electricite du Laos, Laos’ state power company, to collect information of all Lao projects, as part of a wider review it is undertaking of the hydropower sector.

“While we are aware that the MRC’s role is not to make decisions about projects, it can be much more proactive in encouraging member governments to follow best- practice decisions with respect to the 1995 agreement and international law,” said Sangha.

“The Joint Committee has tasked the MRC secretariat with further study of these issues and will discuss the outcome of this work at its next meeting, scheduled for August,” said Bird about the impact from dams on the Sekong and elsewhere. “This includes taking best practice and new ideas on water governance from other countries.”

“As part of this, we want the MRC to organise a regional debate and get all the players together to talk about water governance related to dams in the region,” said Bird (END/IPSAP/MPWR/EN/DV/IP/AN/JS/090808)

(IPS Asia-Pacific is a partner organisation in the Mekong Programme on Water Environment and Resilience or M-POWER at www.mpowernet.org).