Can Tho (VNA) - Countries in the Mekong River basin have been urged tostop building hydroelectric dams on the river’s main stream as alluvial soiland vital nutrients are being seriously depleted.

Dr Duong Van Ni of Can Thp University’s environment faculty said that continuedbuilding of such dams posed a threat to water security in the region.  

Ni spoke at an international workshop on water-security risks in Vietnam’s MekongDelta held on May 29 at Can Tho University.

He said that an American consultant suggested replacing a hydroelectric dam inCambodia’s Kratie province with solar energy power. But the idea was rejected.

Although hydroelectric dams have advanced technologies, they still affect waterflow in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region.

Power development in the future should not be based on hydroelectric plantsbecause hydroelectricity “is not as clean as we think”, Ni said.

Many investors mistakenly believe they will recoup their investment capitalquickly with hydroelectric dams, he added.

Countries in the Mekong River basin should consider the pros and cons ofdeveloping dams, he said.

Besides the hydroelectric dams which China is building on the upper MekongRiver, countries on the lower river are planning to build 11 dams.

Maureen Harris, Southeast Asia programme director at International Rivers, saidthat construction progress of Xayaburi Dam in Laos, for instance, has reached75 per cent of its plan. It is scheduled for completion and commercialoperation in 2019.

Construction on Don Sahong dam in this country started in June 2016 and now itsconstruction has completed more than 25 percent, she said.

Cambodia is also planning to build some dams including Sambor dam with thecapacity of 2,600MW, and the 900MW Stung Treng dam, she said, adding thatelectricity from those dams is proposed for domestic use and sale to Vietnam.

Dr Le Anh Tuan from Can Tho University told Vietnam News that “We should stopthe development of dams on the Mekong River basin. We should not be silent andwait until the development begins.”

In the future, the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam will face a serious decreaseof water, alluvia soil and land, which will affect agriculture in the region,Tuan said.

“We can save water by using alternative wet and dry methods, and by reducingrice areas in the dry season, changing rice to upland crops that need less water,and storing available water via wetlands, rain harvesting and flood waterretention,” he added.

Countries in the Mekong River basin should work together more closely to createequitable and sustainable water trans-boundary governance, as well as developpartnership strategies and a better legal framework, he said.

Tran Quang Tho, deputy manager of the science and technology division at theSouthern Institute of Water Resource Planning, said that solutions for waterstorage were also necessary.

He said Vietnam should develop a strategy to attract funds from both the publicand private sectors to invest in irrigation works.

The operation and management of the systems that exploit water sources shouldalso be modernised, he added.

Ho Thi Thu Ho, deputy director of the Pedagogy Development Centre and expert oncommunity education at Can Tho University’s School of Education, said thatstudents in the Mekong Delta should study these environmental issues as part ofthe school curriculum.

They would have a better understanding about the region’s problems, which couldinspire them to find solutions, Ho said.

Students at Vinh Xuong Secondary School in An Giang province’s Tan Chau town,for instance, have developed an initiative to make a water-filtering machine.

The workshop was held by People and Nature Reconciliation, a Vietnamese NGO, incooperation with Can Tho University’s Education Faculty, the Swedish Embassyand the Vietnam Environmental Journalists Forum.-VNA