Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

THE DON SAHONG DAM

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 43; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14672715.2011.570567

1472-6033

Ian G. Baird,

Fish Biology and Ecology Studies

Abstract Plans are underway to construct twelve large hydropower projects on the un-dammed lower and middle mainstream Mekong River in Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. One of the planned projects is a 30–32 meter–high hydroelectric dam with an expected 240 MW installed generating capacity to be built on the Hou Sahong Channel, less than one kilometer north of the Laos–Cambodia border, in the Khone Falls area of Khong District, Champasak Province, southern Laos. The project's objective is to generate revenue by exporting electricity to Thailand or Cambodia. Concerns have been raised about the Don SahongDam(DSD), however. The main ones relate to potential repercussions on aquatic resources, and especially wild-capture fisheries dependent on migratory fish. This article examines the regional implications of the DSD, including possible impacts on food security, nutrition, and poverty alleviation. Fisheries losses in the Mekong Region from the DSD would negatively affect the nutrition of hundreds of thousands or even millions of people, especially in parts of Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand where nutritional standards are already low. Mekong fisheries are integral to food security in the region, and the DSD would make it difficult for governments, especially in Laos and Cambodia, to reach their health-related United Nations Millennium Development Goals and their objectives for reducing poverty. Acknowledgments: This study was financially supported by Oxfam Australia, but the views expressed here represent those of the author and not necessarily Oxfam Australia or any of its partners. Thanks to Chaloun Souriyavong from Khong District for his assistance and Jutta Krahn from the World Food Program. Michael Thorne from the British Antarctic Survey assisted with some data management. Thanks also to the MRC's Fisheries Program for providing me with unpublished fish-catch data from the Mekong River upriver from the Khone Falls in Laos. The author is thankful for the useful comments provided by reviewers on an earlier version of this article, and to CAS editor TomFenton. Any errors that remain are my own.