The lower Mekong River is drier than usual.

In its latest bulletin, the MDM (Mekong Hydropower Monitoring Project) warns: The early part of the 2023 rainy season is much drier than normal in the lower Mekong. If you look at the heat and humidity maps, you can see that most of the lower Mekong basin is much drier than normal over the past 30 years.

Hạ lưu sông Mekong đang khô hạn nhiều hơn so với bình thường - Ảnh 1. — Mekong River dry, low flood forecast

Normally, by this time of year (late June) the monsoon rains would have begun to fall across the basin and the Mekong flood pulse would have begun to form but at present, there is no sign of this happening.

According to MDM, natural flow models show a water deficit of up to 30% in Chiang Saen (Thailand), due to storage of water by upstream Chinese dams. Further downstream, the river level is about 1m lower than normal for this time of year due to storage at Chinese dams and low rainfall across the basin.

In the coming weeks, many dams will be storing water due to concerns about El Niño causing insufficient rainfall. This will further affect the natural flow and reduce the flood pulse of the Mekong River. This in turn will have impacts on fisheries and agriculture production across the basin.

The forecast bulletin of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Planning (Siwrp) said: The flood at the beginning of the season is lower than the average of many years. The main flood in the upper Mekong River is only at approximately and lower than the alarm level 1. On the contrary, in the middle and lower Mekong River, due to the influence of high tides, the water level in many places reaches and exceeds the alarm level 3. High tides are especially high in October and November. In addition, in October and November, rainfall will be lower than the average of many years, so there is a risk of a shortage of fresh water for rice production in coastal provinces.

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