Thailand studies a flow of a tributary of the Mekong

The Royal Thai Irrigation Bureau is studying the transfer of the Loei River mouth, a tributary of the Mekong River, to bring water to agricultural areas in the Northeast.

The department held a workshop to discuss the design of a very long water tunnel under the Mekong-Loei-Chi-Mun water management project.

This project will provide water security for Thailand during the dry season and prevent water from flowing into the Mekong too much.

When completed, it is expected that 2 billion cubic meters of water will be diverted through the tunnel each year, benefiting 1.7 million Thai households.

Area of ​​Loei river mouth.(Source: ipernity.com).

The research is expected to be completed on December 31 and the final decision whether to build a dam will be released several months later.

Local environmental activists have objected to the project worth more than $ 2.8 billion.

They argued that if relying solely on gravity could not bring water through the tunnel, in addition, the project would increase saline intrusion in the area.

Instead, they propose to restore water sources and build more reservoirs.

Vietnam, due to its source at the end of the Mekong River, has suffered in recent years as a result of the construction of dams or diversions in China, Laos and Thailand.

Even in February, the Mekong Delta region suffered severe drought and saline intrusion, reaching a record level in the past 100 years.

Experts have given a warning assessment that, because of the downstream of the Mekong River, Vietnam is at risk of being affected by huge, unpredictable impacts from hydropower projects and dams. upstream: including downstream water shortage; severe saline intrusion; the reduction of sediment load for the delta is from 26 million tons / year to 7 million tons / year; damage to aquatic resources from 500 million USD to 1 billion USD / year.