The Mekong River Commission (MRC) released a Situation Report on conditions in the Lower Mekong River Basin in January-July 2020 identifying possible causes of low flows and drought. 

The MRC noted that the Lower Mekong River Basin has experienced record lows for the second consecutive year.

Causes identified by the report include (i) abnormal low rainfall affected by the El Nino weather phenomenon, (ii) prolonged low flow conditions from 2019, and (iii) lower water flow contributions from the Mekong tributaries. The low flows could have severe impacts, affecting Cambodia’s fisheries and irrigation potential, Viet Nam Delta’s rice bowl productivity, and Lao PDR and Thailand’s agricultural capacity. 

The MRC report recommends several mitigation measures, such as implementing drought management plans, and requesting storage operators to consider additional releases and irrigators. It also urged the six Mekong countries to increase data and information sharing on their dam and water infrastructure operations to enable MRC to better support seasonal water resources planning and management. 

Download the Situation Report.