Mekong River water level is unusually low

According to the MDM (Mekong Dam Monitoring Project) bulletin, river water levels along the Thai-Lao border are beginning to approach normal levels. However, due to little rain and hydropower dams across the basin taking advantage of water storage, the Mekong River water level at Stung Treng (Cambodia) is currently 1.5m lower than the average water level and the Tonle Sap River water level (Cambodia) is also 2m lower than the average. Currently, only 5,500 ^km2 is flooded, equivalent to 37% of the area compared to the average flooded area of many years.

Nước sông Mekong thấp bất thường - Ảnh 1. — Total water volume through Kratie station from June 1 - July 6, 2023

Citing data from the Mekong River Commission, the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research (SIWRP) said: At Kratie station (Cambodia), the total amount of water flowing through here from June 1 to July 6, 2023 was only 19.71 billion cubic meters. Compared to the average of many years in the same period (1961 - 2022), it is about 10.59 billion cubic meters less. If compared to 2022, it is 14.7 billion cubic meters less. And if compared to the year with the first El Nino, 2019, it is about 0.63 billion cubic meters less.

The water level at Kratie on July 6 was 10.28m, 2.75m lower than the average of many years, 1.16m lower than 2022 and 0.6m lower than 2019.

Similarly, the water level at Tonle Sap Lake reached 1.65m; 2.49m lower than the average of many years, 0.98m lower than in 2019, but 0.23m higher than in 2019.

At Tan Chau station (on Tien River), the highest water level on July 5 reached 1.45m; compared to the average of many years in the same period, it was 0.09m lower, 0.06m higher than in 2022 and 0.09m higher than in 2019.

At Chau Doc station (on Hau River), the highest water level on July 5 reached 1.67m, 0.23m higher than the average of the same period in many years, 0.2m higher than in 2022 and 0.2m higher than in 2019.

Water levels at the two upstream stations of the Mekong River are generally higher than the same period many years ago due to the influence of both the Mekong River water flowing from upstream and the tidal regime. Currently, the water level in the upstream area of the Mekong River is also decreasing due to the low tide period.

SIWRP said: Water levels at upstream stations of the Mekong River were quite low by the end of June. At Tonle Sap, water levels were only equivalent to 2015 and 2019 - years with very low water levels at the beginning of the flood season and years with El Nino. However, the forecast for July rainfall in the basin tends to be higher than the average of many years, so the upstream water level is likely to improve by the end of the month. Specifically, the forecast for the flood level at the end of July in Tan Chau is 2.2m. Basically, this water level is unlikely to affect the summer-autumn and autumn-winter rice production areas in the upper Mekong River.

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