Chinese dams under U.S. scrutiny in Mekong rivalry (updated)

China Renewable Energy Investment

13/12/2020 23:41

(Adds hyperlink, website operational from Tuesday)
    By Kay Johnson and Matthew Tostevin
    BANGKOK, Dec 14 (Reuters) - A U.S.-funded project using
satellites to track and publish water levels at Chinese dams on
the Mekong river was announced on Monday, adding to the
superpowers' rivalry in Southeast Asia.
    The 4,350-km (2,700-mile) waterway - known as the Lancang in
China and flowing south through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand,
Cambodia and Vietnam - has become a focus of competition.
    Beijing has dismissed U.S. research saying Chinese dams have
retained water to the detriment of downstream nations, where 60
million people depend on the river for fishing and farming.
    The Mekong Dam Monitor https://www.stimson.org/project/mekong-dam-monitor,
 part-funded by the State Department, uses data from
cloud-piercing satellites to track levels of dams in China and
other countries. 
    The information will be open for everyone in near real-time
from Tuesday.
    A separate indicator of "surface wetness" is to show which
parts of the region are wetter or drier than usual: a guide to
how much natural flows are being affected by the dams.
    "The monitor provides evidence that China's 11 mainstream
dams are sophisticatedly orchestrated and operated in a way to
maximize the production of hydropower for sale to China’s
eastern provinces with zero consideration given to downstream
impacts," said Brian Eyler of the Washington-based Stimson
Center, a global think tank which operates the virtual water
gauges.
    
    'POSITIVE BENEFITS'
    China has been critical of past research, including a study
by Eyes on Earth - part of the Mekong Dam Monitor project -
which said water had been held back in 2019 as other countries
suffered severe drought.
    "The United States has been unable to provide good evidence
throughout," the state-backed China Renewable Energy Engineering
Institute said in a Dec. 4 report.
    "The positive benefits of upstream Lancang river hydropower
on downstream Mekong neighbours are clear and obvious," it said,
adding that water stored in reservoirs during the flood season
helped prevent both downstream floods and droughts.
    China agreed earlier this year to share water data with the
Mekong River Commission (MRC) - an advisory body to Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam that had long sought the information
for better planning.
    China and the United States have rival bodies working with
Mekong countries: the Beijing-based Lancang-Mekong Cooperation
and the Mekong-U.S. Partnership.
    The two nations are also at odds in the South China Sea,
where Washington challenges Beijing's claim to most of the
waterway, a major conduit for trade that is also rich in energy
resources.

 (Additional reporting by David Stanway in Shanghai;
Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
 ((matthew.tostevin@thomsonreuters.com; +66 2 648 9777; Reuters
Messaging: matthew.tostevin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))