Water resources - Open Development Mekong

Water resources

Introduction Water is the lifeblood of the Lower Mekong Countries. With economies and cultures inextricably connected to the Mekong River, built as they are on the production and consumption of rice and fish, people living in the Mekong countries are highly sensitive to changes in water. This is especially so for countries lying downstream of […]

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Ground water

When water seeps into the earth after a rain or flood it fills the spaces between the rocks and soil particles providing moisture for plants and percolating into larger spaces called aquifers. Groundwater naturally flows to the surface again as springs and wetlands.

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The Mekong

The Mekong River, and its associated basin, are the mainstay of the region’s rice and fish economy, as well as providing water for domestic, municipal and industrial use. Approximately 4350 km in length and originating high in the Tibetan plateau, it passes through six countries: China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is the seventh longest river in Asia and the 12th longest in the world.

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Rivers and lakes

Introduction Rivers and lakes are two types of surface water. In Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam (or the Lower Mekong Countries), the majority of surface water is organized into large river systems that network into streams, lakes, ponds and wetlands, and flow into deltas. It is a freshwater resource. The Lower Mekong Countries are […]

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Watersheds

Watersheds are impacted by many factors, through interaction with both natural elements and human activity in the area. The trees and plants in forests not only tap into the water within the soil, but they also affect the quality and composition of the soil itself, filtering rain water and run off as it flows to streams or down into the water table.

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