VietNamNet Bridge - The proposal to buy electricity from Lao hydropower plants has been facing opposition from many researchers, who say that benefits are small compared with the costs.

Vietnam, located in the lower course of Mekong, is at a disadvantageous position as more and more dams have arisen on the upper course of the river.

Officials and scientists have said that the accident at the Sepien Senamnoi hydropower dam in Attapeu, Laos will not create a “water bomb” attacking the Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

The Mekong Connection Initiative believes that Vietnam should become the major importer of electricity from Laos. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The weaker water flow towards the downstream Mekong River has caused drought in  The Mekong Delta, affecting the livelihood of millions of people in the area.

VietNamNet Bridge - Laos is set to move forward to build Pak Beng hydropower dam on Mekong mainstream, but technical reports about the project still do not provide adequate information.

China’s plan to blast waterfalls and rapids to clear the Mekong River to allow large cargo ships to pass through has raised concerns among the public as it will damage the habitat for marine life and harm people’s lives.

Laos is making hectic preparations for the building of one more hydropower dam – Pak Beng – on the Mekong river section which runs through Oudomxay province.

VietNamNet Bridge - Scientists have urged the Vietnamese government to cooperate with Cambodia and draw up a plan to take full advantage of water resources.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam, which is located on the lower course of the Mekong River, is expected to see fish resources decline and erosion and saline intrusion increase because of the new hydropower plant in Laos.

Vietnam needs to find solutions to the increasing number of hydropower dams being built in regional countries. 

The rapid decrease of the sediment load in the Mekong River has been largely caused by hydropower dams. WWF in Vietnam last week said suspended sediment load decreased from 160 million tons to 75 million tons between 1992 and 2014.

The struggle to protect Mekong River has been a prolonged and difficult one, and much more needs to be done, according to Tran Huu Hiep, head of the Economics Department under the Steering Committee on Southwest Development.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Many legal documents and instructions on the standard process of operating hydropower water reservoirs have been released, but these represent no assurance to the people who live in the lowlands.

The rains in the central region in recent days are not as heavy as the one that caused the historical flood in 1999. However, they have caused more severe consequences because hydropower reservoirs discharged water at the same time.

The first “hydropower bomb" that denounced the irresponsibility of investors who were reckless for seeking profit is Dakrong III, located in Dakrong commune, Quang Tri province.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Hydropower projects with capacity of less than 50 MW are put under the jurisdiction of provinces for assessment and licensing but the capacity of provincial officials is still weak,

VietNamNet Bridge – A concrete dam of 60 m long, 20 m high of the Dak Mek 3 hydropower plant collapsed after being hit by a truck. Hundreds of cubic meters of rocks and concrete fell into Dak Mek stream.