3.1 Mekong

Question 1

How many countries does the Mekong flow through?

Transboundary

Answer 1

6 countries

Question 2

What’s the Mekong’s source?

Answer 2

• Snowmelt from Tibetan Plateau + monsoon rains

Question 3

How many people depnd on the river directly?

Answer 3

60 million

but there are also indirect needs (produce)

Question 4

Who is the Lower Mekong managed by?

Answer 4

Mekong River Commission (MRC) but limited power and cash as China refuses to be a member

Question 5

Human causes of water insecurity?

Answer 5

• Increasing demand (population/economic growth etc)
• Reducing supply (overabstraction) - inefficient crop production, freshwater river withdrawal from dams for energy production (HEP), GW depletion in intensive farming
• Reducing quality (water contamination) -

Question 6

How have people reduced water quality in the Mekong?

Answer 6

• Urban sewage from Phomn Penh = build up of nitrogen and phosphorus = cultural eutrophiciation in river
• Mercury and arsenic material from Lanping Lead-Zinc mine in China = bacterial diseases in Mekong water

Question 7

How have humans caused flooding in the Mekong?

Answer 7

• 90% Vietnamese forest cut down = increased SRO levels
• Sandbars and rocks removed for ferries and cargo ships = devastating floods
• Pesticide runoff = algal blooms and water lyacinths

Question 8

How have humans reduced the supply from the Mekong?

Answer 8

• 1.7 million people live in the delta = overabstraction of GW = subsidence and seawater encroachment into rice paddies

Question 9

Why is China’s construction of dams controversial?

Answer 9

• Reduction in river flow by 10% = difficult for Phnom Penh to access fresh drinking water
• Construction of dams in China = reduced sediment loads in Lower Mekong from 160mt to 75mt in 15 years = widespread riverbank erosion = reduced floodplain fertility