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Khone Phapheng Aesthetics: Evaluating and Ameliorating the Hydraulic and Visual Impacts of the Don Sahong Hydroelectric Project (Lao PDR)

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Khone Phapheng Aesthetics: Evaluating and Ameliorating the Hydraulic and Visual Impacts of the Don Sahong Hydroelectric Project (Lao PDR) Khone Phapheng aesthetics: evaluating and ameliorating the hydraulic and visual impacts of the Don Sahong Hydroelectric Project (Lao PDR) The Don Sahong hydropower scheme, now under construction in the Siphandone (“four Don Sahong details Longqingxia ! Dams in the Mekong Basin thousand islands”) region of Khong District (of Champassak Province) in far southern Laos Za Qu Z i Q Commissioned, Under Construction and Planned Dams u has been extremely controversial since the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was first in May 2013 Map Description: The map shows every known commissioned, under construction, and planned Qamdo dam in the basin. ‘Unknown’ dams are mainly dams and reservoirs constructed for use in irrigation and/or water supply, the names of which are currently unknown. agreed between the Lao PDR government and MegaFirst Berhad: a Malaysian company with ! Cege ! Jinhe ! Yuelong Kagong ! Data Sources : Citations for the data sources contributing to the location of the dams in this map may be found Lhasa Banda great experience in engineering and land development, but which had never previously built ! at our website - http://mekong.waterandfood.org/archives/2648 Background relief data is courtesy of Natural Earth and SRTM data from the JPL of NASA Rumei River basin boundary and river vector data is courtesy of the IWMI ! CHINA All other administrative and physiographic data courtesy of NOAA's National Geophysical Data Guxue Center's Global Self-consistent, Hierarchical, High-resolution Geography Database any hydroelectric projects. The initial dust-up was over the Lao PDR’s argument that since ! Acknowledgements: Gushui ! CPWF-Mekong gratefully acknowledges the financial support of AusAID in the production of this map. Guonian This map has been rendered by GeoSys (Lao) Co., Ltd, the full Mekong mainstem would not be blocked by the proposed design, thus only the lesser ! Hom 7, 136/09, Ban Sokpaluang, Sisattanak District, Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. Wunonglong INDIA !! INDIA Lidi Disclaimer: tributaries/distributaries submission-and-review criteria under the Mekong Compact need While every effort has been made to ensure and confirm the accuracy of these data, CPWF-Mekong, AusAID or any partner associated with the CPWF-Mekong program cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies or omissions in this map. Observations and comments may be sent to Tuoba ! [email protected]. The designation and names of geographical entities on this map do not Huangdeng apply to their formal obligations toward the Mekong River Commission (MRC). ! imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of AusAID, CPWF-Mekong or any !! Dahuaqiao ! associated partners concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries or of the nomenclature deployed in MiaoweiL ! a its identification. n c a n Gongguoqiao g J ! ia n g g !! ( M !! !! Correct Citation: !! e The next flap was over the widely-believed —and possibly largely correct— assertion that k o n CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food. 2013. Dams in the Mekong Basin - Commissioned, g) Under Construction and Planned Dams in May 2013. Vientiane, Lao PDR: CGIAR Challenge Program on !! Xiaowan Water and Food. ! Manwan ! the Hou Sahong channel, which would in fact be completely blocked by the Project, was the homepage Pak Mun museum !! !! Don Sahong details Creative Commons License Dachaoshan ! This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution !! NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. ¹ !! !! !! ) This publication may be freely quoted and reproduced provided g single most critical migratory pathway for migratory fishes moving upstream during the dry !! n o !!!! k !!e!! the source is acknowledged. This publication may not be used in M ( g n a !! i J whole or in part for resale or other commercial purposes. g g n !! a !! nc a L !! Nuozhadu !!!!!! season. And would result in “immeasurable damage to nutrition and livelihoods throughout ! !! !! !! !! Mandalay u O Jinghong m ! !!!! a N !! !! !!!!!! ! Mengsong Nam Ngay the Lower Mekong Basin”: especially so to Cambodia, with which the Lao PDR border was !! ! !! Ganlanba Nam Ou 7 Nam Ou 6 ! Legend r ive Nam Ou 5 VIETNAM R !! VIETNAM ng ! eko M !! Dams BURMA Nam Ou 4 a ! HA NOI Namh Phak (Nam Ou) T ! Nam Pha m u Hai Phong a only 2km below the prospective Don Sahong dam. ! O Status N Nam Ko ! m a N ! g n Planned e Nam OuS 3 g m LAOS ! a LAOSn Nam Nga ! Nam Tha 1 e ! !! ! B ! N m Under construction aNam Ngao k N ! o ! ! NAY PYI TAW K r ! Nam Suang 2 e e g Nam Beng ive ! a n g R Nam Suang 1 n ! M I ! Luangprabangon a Commissioned (NAYPYIDAW) e ek h m m a M Siphandone flythrough a Pak Beng ! m K N M ! NamN Khana 3 m m ! a ! ! N Nam Khan 2 The third line of attack by the Project’s critics was that the piscivorous Irriwaddy dolphin Cancelled Ngum m a Nam Ngum 4A Nam Ngum 4B N !!!! ! ! ! Unknown (or irrigation) ! G u l f o f !! Xayaburi ! ! Nam Ngieu Nam Feuang 2 ! Nam Feuang 3 !! Nam Pay ! ! ! !! Nam San 3 Nam Pouy ! T o n k i n Mekong River System ! Nam Phouan ! Nam San 2 (Orcaella brevirostris), IUCN red-listed as “critically endangered” —of which the open water Nam Lik 2 ! ! ! ! ! Nam Mouan Hierarchy Nam Lik 1 ! Nam Ngum 1 !! ! Nam Theun 4 Nam Poun ! ! ! N ! ! Pak Lay (Option 2)a Nam Mang 1 Nam Theun 1 ! m ! ! Theun Hinboun Expansion Mainstream Pak Lay (Option 1) !! m N gu !! ! !! Nam Mang 3 Theun-Hinboun Santhing-Pakchom ! Nam Theun 2 Tributaries Nam Ngum Dam (lower) ! Sanakham embayment directly at the Lao-Cambodian border was permanent habitat of perhaps ten in- ! !! Nam Hinboun 1 !! Nam Hinboun 2 VIANG CHAN !! Lakes & reservoirs Me (VIENTIANE) ko ng R g Fai iv Ban e e Mekong River basin boundary Nam Un r X Xe Neua ! Xe Bang Fai ! Yangon Nong Han ! (Rangoon) ! Cites Nam Pung dividuals isolated from the rest of the slender O. brevirostris population— would be severely ! Xe Bang Hieng 2 Ubol Ratana ! P National capital ! !! ! Lam Pao !! Chulabhorn ! Hue ! Huai Kum ! !! !! R Major city ! ! Xe Pon 3 C ! Bang HiengXe Lanong 1 ! h i River ! !! Xe ! National boundary Xe Lanong 2 impacted both by the project’s presumed long-term reduction of fish prey; and by the worri- THAILAND! ! THAILAND ! ! ! Xe Bang Nouan Xekong 5 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Xedon 2 ! !! ! ! ! ! ! N.B. Not all dam project names ! ! ! ! ! Xekong 4 Dak E Mule ! ! Xeset 1 ! ! Xe Kaman 3 ! Ban Kum ! ! un River Rasi Salai ! ! ! Xeset 2 ! M ! ! Pak Mun ! ! ! ! ! Xe Kaman 4B have been added to the map !!! ! !! ! ! ! Rasi Salai Dam ! ! Xe Nam Noy 5 !! Xe Kaman 4A some physiological effects of construction blasting on a marine mammal with hypersensitive ! Siridhorn ! ! ! ! due to space limitations ! ! ! !! ! Nam Ang - Tabeng Lam Ta Khong P.S. Hua Na ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! Xekaman-Sanxay Upper Kontum Lam Takong Dam ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! Xe Xou ! ! ! ! Nam Kong 1 !! !!! ! ! ! ! !!!!! ! ! ! !! ! ! !!!! Nam Kong 2 ! Plei Krong !! Dak Pla ! ! Sesan 3 ! echolocation auditory mechanisms. ! ! ! er Prek Liang 1 ! !Yali iv R Lower Sesan 3 ! !! g g ! !! KRUNG THEP ! ren n Sesan 4 S t ! Sa ! Don Sahong ! Thakho e ! !! g S !! n Sesan 4A !! (BANGKOK) o !! K O Chum 2 ! ! e e Stung TrengX Lower Sesan 2 Lower Sesan 5/1 ! ! Sre CAMBODIA Pok Lower Sre Pok 3 Lower Ya Soup r ! ! Stung Sen e v r ! i e ! iv r R Upper Ya Soup R e g g r r v e i n Lower Sre Pok 4 k R o ! g T ! ! n o n k a n e e (In practice, the emplacement of three temporary cofferdams —one upstream at the entrance S l S ! e e ! S M ! Battambang 1 a Sambor Sre pok 4A ! ! p ! ( ! ! la ! ! !!! r k ! !! !!! ve e) ! ! !!!! Ri ! !!!! !! a t Buon Kop !!!! Battambang 2 rs ! ! ! u !!! P !!! ! T ! ! !! Pursat 1 Pursat 2 o ! n ! ! l e S !! Buon Tua Srah a ! p p !! Duc Xuyen ( to the Hou Sahong channel, and two downstream, above and below the actual damsite— has r i v artist's rendering Don Sahong dam !! e r ) PHNUM PENH effected all construction blasting completely in the dry.) !! (PHNOM PENH) G u l f o f Ho Chi Minh M ! ek o n g g R T h a i l a n d iv e r We’ll momentarily put aside these latter two arguments (the first having been rendered 050 100 200 300 400 500 Kilometers S o u t h C h i n a 1:7,000,000 Cartographic moot), in favor of a Project impact that wasn’t even in the critical discourse until mid-2016, Design by : Datum : World Geodetic System 1984 S e a Coordinate System : Universal Tranverse Mercator Zone 48 North when it appeared that the waterfalls aesthetics issue was potentially significant, following the Lower Siphandone satellite view, showing “fall line”” escarpments and rapids, c. 5km wide www.geo-sys.net from Lee Pee (left) to Phapheng (right) stated concerns of the Lao PDR Ministry of Tourism that the beauty of the Khone Phapeng Appearance of western Khone falls (Lee-Pee Somphamit complex) site —the eastern-most, and by far most easily accessible, of the several cataracts ranged 4 March 2014: Q Pakse = 3,845 cumecs along the 5 km-wide fall line— across the Siphandone island assemblage, was being put as risk. The relevant hydraulics criteria, here highly simplified, were essentially as follows: during the dry season when overall discharge is lowest, the multiple channels traversing Siphandone are relatively discrete and semi-isolated. This is in marked contrast to monsoonal high-flow con- ditions, when many/most of the interspersing islands (and indeed, the falls escarpments) are effectively submerged and waters from the western channels will freely self-divert throughout the entire channel system: should any of them be blocked by engineering works.
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