Vietnam travel, Viet nam tour

Mekong river

Posted by natalie
September 4, 2009

The Mekong is one of the world’s great rivers. It is the world’s 10th-longest river[1] and the 7th-longest in Asia. Its estimated length is 4,909 km (3,050 mi),[1] and it drains an area of 795,000 km2 (307,000 sq mi), discharging 475 km3 (114 cu mi) of water annually.[2]

From the Tibetan Plateau this river runs through China‘s Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam established the Mekong River Commission in 1995 to assist in the management and coordinated use of the Mekong’s resources. In 1996 China and Burma became “dialogue partners” of the MRC and the six countries now work together within a cooperation framework.

The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in this river have made navigation extremely difficult.

Names

In English the river is called “the Mekong River”, derived from “Mae Nam Khong”, a term of both Thai and Lao origin. In the Lao-Thai toponymy, all great rivers are considered “mother rivers” signalled by the prefix “mae”, meaning “mother”, and “nam” for water. In the Mekong’s case, Mae Nam Khong means Khong, Mother of Water.[3] “Khong” is derived from the Sanskrit “ganga”, meaning the Ganges. Many Northern Thai and Laos locals refer to it as the “River Khong”. Such is the case with the Mae Nam Ping in Chiang Mai which is known as the “Ping River“. The Tonle Sap in Cambodia is a similar example – where Tonle translates as “Great lake or river”, making the Tonle Sap River an unnecessary repetition of what is in fact the “Sap River”.

In Thai, ??? (pronounced [k????]) is a species of crocodile; some believe this is tone-shifted from ?? [k?ót] or ???? [k?ó??], both adjectives to describe curves or meanders of a river or road.[4]

Since the river flows through a number of countries, it has many different names in local languages:

Course

The Mekong rises in the “Three Rivers Area” on the Tibetan Plateau in the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve as the Lancang, together with the Yangtze and Salween Rivers.[2] It flows southwest through Yunnan Province through the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas in the Hengduan Mountains. After leaving China, it flows southeast and forms the border of Burma and Laos for about 100 kilometres (62 mi) then turns southwest to form briefly the border of Laos with Thailand. The Mekong then flows east and south into Laos for some 400 kilometres (250 mi) and defines the Laos-Thailand border again for some 850 kilometres (530 mi) as it flows east, turning south through central Southeast Asia, passing through the capital of Laos, Vientiane. The Mun River’s confluence with the Mekong occurs right before it crosses into Cambodia, where it receives the Sap River, flowing by Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The Mekong slows as it enters Vietnam, where it divides into nine channels of the Mekong Delta, emptying into the South China Sea.

Watershed

From the point where it rises to its mouth, the most precipitous drop in the Mekong occurs in what is referred to as the ‘Upper Mekong Basin’ (see below), a stretch of some 2,200 km (1,367 mi). Here, it drops 4,500 metres (14,764 ft) metres before it enters the Lower Basin where the borders of Thailand, Lao PDR, China and Burma come together in the Golden Triangle. Downstream from the Golden Triangle, the river flows for a further 2,600 km 2,600 km (1,616 mi) through Lao PDR, Thailand and Cambodia before entering the South China Sea via a complex delta system in Viet Nam.[7]

In Yunnan province in China, the river and its tributaries are confined by narrow, deep gorges. The tributary river systems in this part of the basin are small. Only 14 have catchment areas that exceed 1,000 km2 (0 sq mi). In the south of Yunnan, in Simao and Xishuangbanna Prefectures, the river changes as the valley opens out, the floodplain becomes wider, and the river becomes wider and slower.[7]

Lao PDR lies almost entirely within the Lower Mekong Basin. Its climate, landscape and land use are the major factors shaping the hydrology of the river. The mountainous landscape means that only 16 per cent of the country is farmed under lowland terrace or upland shifting cultivation.[7] With upland shifting agriculture (slash and burn), soils recover within 10 to 20 years but the vegetation does not. Shifting cultivation is common in the uplands of Northern Lao PDR and is reported to account for as much as 27 per cent of the total land under rice cultivation.[7] As elsewhere in the basin, forest cover has been steadily reduced during the last three decades by shifting agriculture and permanent agriculture. The cumulative impacts of these activities on the river regime have not been measured.

Loss of forest cover in the Thai areas of the Lower Basin has been the highest in all the Lower Mekong countries over the past 60 years. On the Korat Plateau, which includes the Mun and Chi tributary systems, forest cover was reduced from 42 per cent in 1961 to 13 per cent in 1993.[7] Although this part of Northeast Thailand has an annual rainfall of more than 1,000 mm, a high evaporation rate means it is classified as a semi arid region. Consequently, although the Mun and Chi Basins drain 15 per cent of the entire Mekong Basin, they only contribute 6 per cent of the average annual flo.[7] Sandy and saline soils are the most common soil types, which makes much of the land unsuitable for wet rice cultivation. In spite of poor fertility, however, agriculture is intensive. Glutinous rice, maize and cassava are the principal crops.[7] Drought is by far the major hydrological hazard in this region.[7]

In Cambodia, the wet rice is the main crop and is grown on the flood plains of the Tonle Sap, Mekong and Bassac rivers.[7] More than half of Cambodia remains covered with mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaf forest, but forest cover has decreased from 73 per cent in 1973 to 63 per cent in 1993.[7] Here, the river landscape is flat. Small changes in water level determine the direction of water movement, including the large-scale reversal of flow into and out of the Tonle Sap basin from the Mekong River.[7]

The Mekong Delta in Viet Nam is farmed intensively and has little natural vegetation left. Forest cover is less than 10 per cent. In the Central Highlands of Viet Nam, forest cover was reduced from over 95 per cent in the 1950s to around 50 per cent in the mid 1990s.[7] Agricultural expansion and population pressure are the major reasons for land use and landscape change. Both drought and flood are common hazards in the Delta, which many people believe is the most sensitive to upstream hydrological change.[7]

The Mekong Basin can be divided into two parts: the Upper Basin in Tibet and China, and the Lower Mekong Basin from Yunnan downstream from China to the South China Sea.[7] The Upper Basin makes up 24 per cent of the total area and contributes 15 to 20 per cent of the water that flows into the Mekong River. The catchment here is steep and narrow. Soil erosion has been a major problem and approximately 50 per cent of the sediment in the river comes from the Upper Basin.[7]

Major tributary systems develop in the Lower Basin. These systems can be separated into two groups: tributaries that contribute to the major wet season flows, and tributaries that drain low relief regions of lower rainfall. The first group are left bank tributaries that drain the high-rainfall areas of Lao PDR. The second group are those on the right bank, mainly the Mun and Chi rivers, that drain a large part of Northeast Thailand.

Table 1: Basic data on country share of Mekong Basin territory and water flows[7]

China Myanmar Lao PDR Thailand Cambodia Vietnam Total
Area in Basin (km,2) 165,000 24,000 202,000 184,000 155,000 65,000 795,000
Catchment as % of MRB 21 3 25 23 20 8 100
Flow as % of MRB 16 2 35 18 18 11 100

As the Mekong enters Cambodia, over 95% of the flows have already joined the river.[7] From here on downstream the terrain is flat and water levels rather than flow volumes determine the movement of water across the landscape. The seasonal cycle of changing water levels at Phnom Penh results in the unique “flow reversal” of water into and out of the Great Lake via the Tonle Sap River. Phnom Penh also marks the beginning of the delta system of the Mekong River. Here the mainstream begins to break up into an increasing number of branches.[7]

By taking into account hydrological regimes, physiography land use, and existing, planned and potential resource developments, the Mekong is divided into six distinct reaches[7]:

Reach 1: Lancang Jiang or Upper Mekong River in China. In this part of the river, the major source of water flowing into the river comes from melting snow on the Tibetan Plateau. This volume of water is sometimes called the “Yunnan Component” and plays an important role in the low-flow hydrology of the lower mainstream. Even as far downstream as Kratie, the Yunnan Component makes up almost 30 per cent of the average dry season flow. A major concern is that the on-going and planned expansion of dams and reservoirs on the Mekong mainstream in Yunnan could have a significant effect on the low-flow regime of the Lower Mekong Basin system.[7]

Reach 2: Chiang Saen to Vientiane and Nongkhai. This reach is almost entirely mountainous and covered with natural forest, although there has been widespread slash and burn agriculture. Although this reach could hardly be described as “unspoiled”, the hydrological response is perhaps the most natural and undisturbed in all the Lower Basin. Many hydrological aspects of the Lower Basin start to change rapidly at the downstream boundary of this reach.[7]

Reach 3: Vientiane and Nongkhai to Pakse. The boundary between Reach 2 and 3 is where the Mekong hydrology starts to change. Reach 2 is dominated in both wet and dry seasons by the Yunnan Component. Reach 3 is increasingly influenced by contributions from the large left bank tributaries in Lao PDR, namely the Nam Ngum, Nam Theun, Nam Hinboun, Se Bang Fai, Se Bang Hieng and Se Done rivers. The Mun – Chi river system from the right bank in Thailand also enters the mainstream within this reach.[7]

Reach 4: Pakse to Kratie. The main hydrological contributions to the mainstream in this reach come from the Se Kong, Se San and Sre Pok catchments. Together, these rivers make up the largest hydrological subcomponent of the Lower Basin. Over 25 per cent of the mean annual flow volume to the mainstream at Kratie comes from these three river basins. They are the key element in the hydrology of this part of the system, especially to the Tonle Sap flow reversal.[7]

Reach 5: Kratie to Phnom Penh. This reach includes the hydraulic complexities of the Cambodian floodplain, the Tonle Sap and the Great Lake. By this stage, over 95 per cent of the total flow has entered the Mekong system. The focus turns from hydrology and water discharge to the assessment of water level, over- bank storage and flooding and the hydrodynamics that determine the timing, duration and volume of the seasonal flow reversal into and out of the Great Lake.[7]

Reach 6: Phnom Penh to the South China Sea. Here the mainstream divides into a complex and increasingly controlled and artificial system of branches and canals. Key features of flow behaviour are tidal influences and salt water intrusion. Every year, 35 to 50 per cent of this reach is flooded during the rainy season. The impact of road embankments and similar infrastructure developments on the movement of this flood water is an increasingly important consequence of development.[7]

Table 2 summarises the mean annual flows along the mainstream. The mean annual flow entering the lower Mekong from China is equivalent to a relatively modest 450 mm depth of runoff. Downstream of Vientiane this increases to over 600 mm as the principal left bank tributaries enter the mainstream, mainly the Nam Ngum and Nam Theun. The flow level falls again, even with the right bank entry of the Mun-Chi system from Thailand. Although the Mun – Chi basin drains 20 per cent of the lower system, average annual runoff is only 250 mm. Runoff in the mainstream increases again with the entry from the left bank of the Se Kong from southern Lao PDR and Se San and Sre Pok from Viet Nam and Cambodia.

Mekong River modifications

The Mekong is already heavily dammed, with many more dams planned and under construction. See Mekong River Basin Hydropower development for more information.

Environmental concerns

Crossing the Mekong by ferry, near Champasak, Laos

The two most current issues facing the river are the building of dams and blasting of rapids.

A number of dams have already been built on the river’s tributaries, notably the Pak Mun dam in Thailand. This has been criticised on grounds of cost as well as damage to the environment and to the livelihoods of affected villagers, though none have been built on the main part itself.

China is engaged in an extensive program of dam-building on the river itself: it has already completed three, the first called the Manwan dam, another twelve are under consideration.

Poverty stricken Cambodia is one nation that is completely dependent on the river for food and the vast majority of its fledgling economy. The annual floods provide much needed water for crops of the otherwise dry dusty land, and to refresh Tonle Sap, yet its major cities are all vulnerable to flooding. The Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve has been created to try to protect areas around the Tonle Sap Lake and river, which is connected to the Mekong.[8]

The Mekong River Commission, a panel of the region’s nations, has accused China of blatantly disregarding the nations downstream in its plans to dam the river in an effort to stop the dams, but to no avail. Since the building of the first Chinese dam, many species have become endangered, including the Mekong Dolphin and dugong, water levels have dropped as ferries get stuck, fish caught are small and the catch is less than half of before the dam, the turnover at Chiang Rai port is less than one fourth of previous years, and crossings from Chiang Rai to isolated Luang Prabang have lengthened from 8 hours to 2 days due to inadequate water levels.

Despite all these problems, new dams planned will have significantly worse impact if carried out as planned. All nations downstream and the environment will suffer from added pollution (due to development and relatively lax regulation and enforcement in China compared to Thailand, poisoning the food supply from pesticide runoff and heavy industry, as well as promoting algal blooms from organophosphates from agriculture, as well as water hyacinth infestation), river blockage problems as fish cannot swim upstream to spawn, and potentially devastating very low water flow.

Other environmental concerns arise from increased water flow in some parts as China clears rocks and sandbars, blasts gorges, and slows water as it dams and floods other sections, and relocates indigenous peoples. Cambodia is by far the most exposed, depending on a fine balance of water flow, fearing scenarios of mass famine and devastating floods, the likes of which destroyed the Angkor kingdom 700 years ago. Laos‘ biggest cities all hug the Mekong as does Vietnam‘s largest city and financial hub, Ho Chi Minh City, which would be vulnerable mostly to low flow and pollution.

Natural History of the Mekong River Basin

Extirpated from most of its pan-Asian range, Cantor’s giant softshell turtle can still be found along a certain stretch of the Mekong in Cambodia

The Mekong basin is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. Only the Amazon boasts a higher level of biodiversity.[9] Biota estimates for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) include 20,000 plant species, 430 mammals, 1,200 birds, 800 reptiles and amphibians [10] and an estimated 850 fish species.[11] In 2009, 145 new species were described from the Mekong Region, comprising 29 fish species previously unknown to science, two new bird species, ten reptiles, five mammals, 96 plants and six new amphibians[12] The Mekong Region contains 16 WWF Global 200 ecoregions, the greatest concentration of ecoregions in mainland Asia[13]

No other river is home to so many species of very large fish. The biggest include the giant river carp (Probarbus jullieni), which can grow up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) and weigh 70 kilograms (150 lb), the Mekong Freshwater Stingray (Himantura chaophraya), which can have a wingspan of up to 4.3 metres (14 ft), the giant pangasius (Pangasius sanitwongsei), Siamese giant carp (Catlocarpio siamensis) and the endemic Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), all three of which can grow up to about 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) in length and weigh 300 kilograms (660 lb). All of these are in serious decline, both because of dams and flood control and overfishing.[14]

One species of freshwater dolphin, the Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), was once common in the whole of the Lower Mekong but is now very rare.[15]

Among other wetland mammals that have been living in and around the river are the smooth-coated otter (Lutra perspicillata) and fishing cat (Felis viverrina).

The endangered Siamese Crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) is reported to occur along or near the Mekong but is extremely rare. The Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is considered extinct within the Mekong River (where wild populations have not been seen for at least 25 years, but were once common.)

Geology of the Mekong River Basin

The internal drainage patterns of the Mekong are unusual when compared to those of other large rivers[2] Most large river systems that drain the interiors of continents, such as the Amazon, Congo, and Mississippi, have relatively simple dendritic tributary networks that resemble a branching tree.[16] Typically, such patterns develop in basins with gentle slopes where the underlying geological structure is fairly homogenous and stable, exerting little or no control on river morphology.[17] In marked contrast, the tributary networks of the Salween, Yangtze, and particularly the Mekong, are complex with different sub-basins often exhibiting different, and distinct, drainage patterns. These complex drainage systems have developed in a setting where the underlying geological structure is heterogeneous and active, and is the major factor controlling the course of rivers and the landscapes they carve out [18]

The elevation of the Tibetan Plateau during the Tertiary period was an important factor in the genesis of the south-west monsoon,[19] which is the dominant climatic control influencing the hydrology of the Mekong Basin. Understanding the nature and timing of the elevation of Tibet (and the Central Highlands of Viet Nam) therefore helps explain the provenance of sediment reaching the delta and the Tonle Sap Great Lake today. Studies of the provenance of sediments in the Mekong Delta reveal a major switch in the source of sediments about eight million years ago (Ma).[20] From 36 to 8 Ma the bulk (76 per cent) of the sediments deposited in the delta came from erosion of the bedrock in the Three Rivers Area. From 8 Ma to the present, however, the contribution from the Three Rivers Area fell to 40 per cent, while that from the Central Highlands rose from 11 to 51 per cent. One of the most striking conclusions of provenance studies is the small contribution of sediment from the other parts of the Mekong Basin, notably the Khorat Plateau, the uplands of northern Lao PDR and northern Thailand, and the mountain ranges south of the Three Rivers Area.

The last glacial period came to an abrupt end about 19,000 years ago (ka) when sea levels rose rapidly, reaching a maximum of about 4.5 m above present levels in the early Holocene at about 8 ka.[21] At this time the shoreline of the South China Sea almost reached Phnom Penh and cores recovered from near Angkor Borei contained sediments deposited under the influence of tides, and salt marsh and mangrove swamp deposits.[22] Sediments deposited in the Tonle Sap Great Lake about this time (7.9–7.3 ka) also show indications of marine influence, suggesting a connection to the South China Sea.[23] Although the hydraulic relationships between the Mekong and the Tonle Sap Great Lake systems during the Holocene are not well understood, it is clear that between 9,000 and 7,500 years ago the confluence of the Tonle Sap and the Mekong was in close proximity to the South China Sea.

The present river morphology of the Mekong Delta developed over the last 6,000 years.[2] During this period, the delta advanced 200 km over the continental shelf of the South China Sea, covering an area of more than 62,500 km2. From 5.3 to 3.5 ka the delta advanced across a broad embayment formed between higher ground near the Cambodian border and uplands north of Ho Chi Minh City. During this phase of its development the delta was sheltered from the wave action of long-shore currents and was constructed largely through fluvial and tidal processes.[24] At this time the delta was advancing at a rate of 17–18 m per year. After 3.5 ka, however, the delta had built out beyond the embayment and became subject to wave action and marine currents. These deflected deposition south-eastwards in the direction of the Cà Mau Peninsula, which is one of the most recent features of the delta.

For much of its length the Mekong flows through bedrock channels, i.e. channels that are confined or constrained by bedrock or old alluvium in the bed and riverbanks.[2] Geomorphologic features normally associated with the alluvial stretches of mature rivers, such as meanders, oxbow lakes, cut-offs, and extensive floodplains are restricted to a short stretch of the mainstream around Vientiane and downstream of Kratie where the river develops alluvial channels that are free of control exerted by the underlying bedrock.

The Mekong Basin is not normally considered a seismically active area as much of the basin is underlain by the relatively stable continental block. Nonetheless, the parts of the basin in northern Lao PDR, northern Thailand, Myanmar and China do experience frequent earthquakes and tremors. The magnitude of these earthquakes rarely exceeds 6.5 on the Richter scale and is unlikely to cause material damage.[25]

History

A map of 1715, incorrectly showing the Chao Praya river as a branch of the Mekong

The members of the French Mekong Expedition of 1866

The difficulty of navigating the river has meant that it has divided, rather than united, the people who live near it. The earliest known settlements date to 2100 BC, with Ban Chiang being an excellent example of that early Iron Age culture. The earliest recorded civilization was the 1st century Indianised-Khmer culture of Funan, in the Mekong Delta. Excavations at Oc Eo, near modern An Giang, have found coins from as far away as the Roman Empire. This was succeeded by the Khmer culture Chenla state by around the 5th century. The Khmer empire of Angkor was the last great Indianized state in the region. From around the time of the fall of the Khmer empire, the Mekong was the frontline between the emergent states of Siam and Tonkin (North Vietnam), with Laos and Cambodia, then situated on the coast, torn between their influence.

The first European to encounter the Mekong was the Portuguese Antonio de Faria in 1540; a European map of 1563 depicts the river, although even by then little was known of the river upstream of the delta. European interest was sporadic: the Spaniards and Portuguese mounted some missionary and trade expeditions, while the Dutch Gerrit van Wuysthoff led an expedition up the river as far as Vientiane in 1641–42.

The French took a serious interest in the region in the mid-19th century, capturing Saigon in 1861, and establishing a protectorate over Cambodia in 1863.

The first systematic exploration began with the French Mekong Expedition led by Ernest Doudard de Lagrée and Francis Garnier, which ascended the river from its mouth to Yunnan between 1866 to 1868. Their chief finding was that the Mekong had too many falls and rapids to ever be useful for navigation. The river’s source was located by Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov in 1900.

From 1893, the French extended their control of the river into Laos, establishing French Indochina by the first decade of the 20th century. This lasted until the First and Second Indochina Wars ended French and American involvement in the region began.

After the Vietnam War, the tensions between the U.S.-backed Thai government and the new Communist governments in the other countries prevented cooperation on use of the river.

Bridges

The Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge (Thai: ????? ??????? ???-??? Saphan Mittaphap Thai-lao) connects Nong Khai city with Vientiane in Laos. The 1,170-metre (3,840 ft)-long bridge has two 3.5-metre (11 ft)-wide lanes with an unfinished single railway line in the middle. On March 20, 2004, the Thai and Lao governments agreed to extend the railway to Tha Nalaeng in Laos.

The Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge connects Mukdahan to Savannakhet. The two-lane, 12-metre (39 ft)-wide, 1,600-metre (5,200 ft)-long bridge opened to the general public on January 9, 2007.

There are only three bridges, located in Champasak province, in Laos. Unlike the Friendship bridges, this bridge is not a border crossing. It is 1,380 metres (4,528 ft) long, and was completed in 2000 (Pakxe bridge 15°6?19.95?N 105°48?49.51?E).

A new bridge over the Mekong is to be completed by 2011, connecting the border towns of Chiang Khong (Thailand) and Ban Houayxay (Laos), as part of Asian Highway 3. The Chinese and Thai governments agreed to build the bridge and share the estimated $33USD million dollar cost of the project.

Cambodia has one two-lane bridge, the Kizuna bridge in the city of Kompong Cham, on the road linking Phnom Penh with the remote provinces of Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri, and further away Laos.

The Prek Tamak Bridge, 40 km north of Phnom Penh will provide another link in 2011.

Phnom Penh itself has no bridge under construction yet.

In Vietnam, since the year 2000 My Thuan Bridge (M? Thu?n), crosses the first channel a dozen km ahead of Vinh Long (V?nh Long) and since 2008 Rach Mieu Bridge (R?ch Mi?u) crosses it a dozen km ahead of de My Tho (M? Tho), between the provinces de Tien Giang (Ti?n Giang) and Ben Tre (B?n Tre).

Can Tho Bridge (C?n Th?), cross the second channel, inaugurated in 2010, is the longest main span cable-stayed bridge in Southeast Asia.

Protected areas

Miscellany

Other tours

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