BANGKOK — A new satellite analysis from U.S. think tank the Stimson Center has identified 517 suspected mines along rivers in Laos, including major tributaries of the Mekong, Southeast Asia’s longest river, heightening concerns about contamination of waterways that sustain local communities.

Stimson has not ground-truthed the mine sites identified through satellite imagery, but Mongabay spoke by phone with several government officials in Laos’s southern border province of Attapeu, home to 188 mines in the data, who said illegal mining remains widespread despite recent crackdowns.

“We still see officials carrying out inspections and confiscating equipment” from illegal mines in Attapeu, said one government official who spoke to Mongabay on condition of anonymity due to the limited press freedoms in Laos.

The analysis shines new light on the scale of mining in river basins across mainland Southeast Asia. The issue previously caught the spotlight in northern Thailand earlier this year after dangerous levels of arsenic were found to be flowing downstream from unregulated gold mines in Myanmar’s Shan state.

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Many households in Vientiane are struggling with water supply issues, including shortages and low water pressure. Residents are growing increasingly frustrated, as water disruptions continue despite repeated calls for conservation.

On 5 March, the Water Supply Department issued an announcement urging residents to save water due to high consumption, frequent power outages, and a prolonged heatwave. These factors have disrupted water production and caused delays in distribution, particularly in elevated and suburban areas.

In response to these challenges, the government has advised residents to store water in containers as a precaution against future disruptions. However, despite these efforts, frustration is mounting, and many residents have turned to social media to voice their dissatisfaction.

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Cambodia’s leader Hun Sen has said that his country would not negotiate with Vietnam over the planned Funan Techo canal, despite concerns about its environmental and geopolitical impacts.

A group of Vietnamese experts suggested last week that Hanoi should ask Phnom Penh to delay the project for further discussions.

Former prime minister Hun Sen, who is now the president of the Senate and still retains much power, told a business banquet that construction of the 180 km (112 mile) canal will go ahead as planned this year, emphasizing the project was of national interest.

The Funan Techo canal, officially known as the Tonle Bassac Navigation Road and Logistics System Project, will connect the Cambodian coastal province of Kep on the Gulf of Thailand with the inland provinces of Kandal and Takeo and the capital Phnom Penh via a tributary of the Mekong River.

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Water holds special symbolic significance in Thai culture, from Loy Krathong to Songkran festivals. But as much as we respect the value of water, we must also recognise that failure to care for our water resources puts our lives and wellbeing at risk.

Over the last four decades we have transformed the natural landscape of Thailand. As the country has become rapidly urbanised and industrialised, we have filled much of the floodplains, wetlands and even canals to turn water into land, so that we can build and expand our towns, cities and industrial parks.

In doing so there has been very little consideration of the potential risks of such changes. Yet these risks are intensifying. It is often said that the effects of climate will be felt through water, and that our cities and urbanised areas will be on frontline in dealing with climate vulnerabilities of floods and droughts.

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The Mekong Delta is seeing land subsidence faster than the sea level rise and is at risk of sinking, PM Pham Minh Chinh said as he visited the region on Saturday.

The post PM addresses Mekong Delta’s environment crisis first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

China’s integrated water management approach holds promise in addressing resource management challenges and fostering sustainable development in the Lancang-Mekong countries, said a Thai expert.

Piti Srisangnam, executive director of the ASEAN Foundation, said China’s emphasis on comprehensive planning, cooperation, and recognizing the interconnectivity of various sectors and stakeholders has proven effective in water resource management.

“By adopting these practices, several countries can enhance efficiency, promote sustainability, and address water-related issues in sustainable and holistic manners. It can also serve as a model for other countries that share the same river systems and face similar water management challenges,” he said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

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Australia and Laos have been cooperating on water resources management for nearly two decades. Key milestones in recent years include the Sekong Groundwater Management Plan approved earlier this year, the revision of the Water Law endorsed by National Assembly in 2017, the development of key decrees and regulations as well as strategies and management plans for key priority basins of Laos.

A recent achievement of this partnership is the development of the Nam Xam Integrated River Basin Management Plan, endorsed by the Deputy Governor of Houaphanh Province, Mr. Phonesouk Inthavong, and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Mr. Chanthaneth Boualapha.

The Nam Xam Basin is located in north-eastern Laos within Houaphanh Province and is home to almost 200,000 people. It is an important basin that provides fresh water, ecosystem services, and fisheries and supports irrigated agriculture, contributing to people’s incomes and livelihoods. Like many other rivers, the basin is facing increased challenges due to land use change, and increased use of water by different sectors, coupled with climate change. As climate change imposes an increased threat of flooding and droughts across the region, the impacts will be widely felt.

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China has been a key supporter of water governance and green and sustainable development in the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) countries, a Cambodian official and an expert said on Monday.

The LMC consists of six countries, namely China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

So Sophort, secretary general of the Cambodia National Mekong Committee, said the regional cooperation between China and the Mekong countries, including Cambodia, is well progressive.

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The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is working to promote the maximization of the potential benefits of hydropower and other water-related development projects while minimising the harmful impact on the environment and millions of people living along this Southeast Asia’s largest river.

The MRC launched two sets of guidelines for developers to make their projects more sustainable — the Preliminary Design Guidance for Proposed Mainstream Dams (known as the PDG) and the Guidelines for Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment, an MRC press release said.

“The four MRC members are well aware of the growing challenges facing the Mekong River as it is undergoing tremendous transformations,” Xinhua news agency quoted Anoulak Kittikhoun, CEO of the MRC Secretariat, during the launch ceremony in Lao capital Vientiane, as saying.

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The author Tucker Elliot wrote in “The Rainy Season” about the volatile nature of the Mekong: 

“No matter the border, the Mekong has been an indiscriminate giver and taker of life in Southeast Asia for thousands of years. It’s a paradox like civilization’s other great rivers – be it the Nile, Indus, Euphrates, Ganges, or China’s Sorrow, the Huang He – for without its waters life is a daily struggle for survival; yet with its waters life is a daily bet that natural disasters and diseases will visit someone else’s village, because it’s not if, but when it’s going to happen that’s the relevant question.”

Generations of people along the Mekong, which flows through six countries, have long had a profound, even spiritual bond with the mighty river: from the highlands of Tibet through the Golden Triangle down to the Mekong Delta, it is one of the most biodiverse freshwater regions in the world, rivaled only by that of the Amazon. For centuries, the transboundary Mekong has been Southeast Asia’s lifeline for millions of people and wildlife. Long considered the “most productive place on Earth” for fishermen and farmers who have come to depend on it, things have changed dramatically for the river’s fortunes, most notably in the last decade.

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