Contested Waterscapes in the Mekong Region Hydropower, Livelihoods and Governance EDITED BY François Molle, Tira Foran and Mira Käkönen publishing for a sustainable future London • Sterling, VA First published by Earthscan in the UK and USA in 2009 Copyright © Unit for Social and Environmental Research (USER), Chiang Mai University, Thailand 2009 All rights reserved ISBN: 978-1-84407-707-6 Typeset by JS Typesetting Ltd, Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan Cover design by Susanne Harris For a full list of publications please contact: Earthscan Dunstan House 14a St Cross St London, EC1N 8XA, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7841 1930 Fax: +44 (0)20 7242 1474 Email: [email protected] Web: www.earthscan.co.uk 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166-2012, USA Earthscan publishes in association with the International Institute for Environment and Development A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Contested waterscapes in the Mekong Region : hydropower, livelihoods, and governance / edited by François Molle, Tira Foran, and Mira Käkönen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-84407-707-6 (hardback) 1. Water resources development--Mekong River Watershed. 2. Water-supply--Mekong River Watershed. 3. Hydroelectric power plants--Political aspects--Mekong River Watershed. 4. Water rights--Mekong River Watershed. 5. Watershed management--Mekong River Watershed. I. Molle, François. II. Foran, Tira. III. Kakonen, Mira. TC513.M45C67 2009 333.91’150959--dc22 2008051424 At Earthscan we strive to minimize our environmental impacts and carbon footprint through reducing waste, recycling and offsetting our CO2 emissions, including those created through publication of this book. For more details of our environmental policy, see www.earthscan.co.uk. This book was printed in the UK by Antony Rowe. The paper used is FSC certifi ed and the inks are vegetable based. Contents List of fi gures, tables and boxes vii List of contributors x Preface: About M-POWER xvi Acknowledgements xvii List of acronyms and abbreviations xviii 1 Introduction: Changing Waterscapes in the Mekong Region – Historical Background and Context 1 François Molle, Tira Foran and Philippe Floch Introduction 1 Brief history of water resources development in the Mekong region 4 Current challenges and dynamics 11 Structure of the book 13 PART I – HYDROPOWER EXPANSION IN THE MEKONG REGION 2 Old and New Hydropower Players in the Mekong Region: Agendas and Strategies 23 Carl Middleton, Jelson Garcia and Tira Foran Introduction 23 Old players and the region’s new ‘electricity hunger’ 24 Brief history of dam development in the Mekong region 26 Current trends in regional hydropower development 29 A changing world: The banks seek to reinvent themselves 41 Discussion and conclusions 45 3 Pak Mun Dam: Perpetually Contested? 55 Tira Foran and Kanokwan Manorom Introduction 55 Pre-operational patterns of contention, 1989 to 1994 58 Post-operational patterns of contention, 1994 to 2003 64 Pak Mun Dam: Perpetually contested 74 iv CONTESTED WATERSCAPES IN THE MEKONG REGION 4 The Nam Theun 2 Controversy and its Lessons for Laos 81 Shannon Lawrence Introduction 81 The history of Nam Theun 2 (NT2) 83 Waiting for the World Bank: The NT2 debate in brief 85 NT2 moves forward 88 NT2’s implementation 93 Lessons and implications for Laos 103 Conclusions and recommendations 105 Appendix: Nam Theun 2 and Its Impact upon Hydropower Development in Laos by Patchamuthu Illangovan 111 5 Damming the Salween River 115 Darrin Magee and Shawn Kelley Introduction 115 Overview of the Nu-Salween watershed 116 Development plans 117 Principal actors 127 Governance 131 Conclusion: Leverage points 133 PART II – LIVELIHOODS AND DEVELOPMENT 6 Irrigation in the Lower Mekong Basin Countries: The Beginning of a New Era? 143 Chu Thai Hoanh, Thierry Facon, Try Thuon, Ram C. Bastakoti, François Molle and Fongsamuth Phengphaengsy Introduction 143 Revisiting irrigation in the Lower Mekong Basin countries 144 The beginning of a new irrigation era? 155 Conclusions 166 7 Landscape Transformations and New Approaches to Wetlands Management in the Nam Songkhram River Basin in Northeast Thailand 173 David J. H. Blake, Richard Friend and Buapun Promphakping Introduction 173 The Nam Songkhram Basin 174 Of grand visions and failed experiments 178 Alternative visions, new approaches 182 Field testing of new participatory approaches 185 Old plans, new disguise? 191 Conclusions 194 CONTENTS v 8 The Delta Machine: Water Management in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta in Historical and Contemporary Perspectives 203 David Biggs, Fiona Miller, Chu Thai Hoanh and François Molle Introduction 203 Historical and geographical overview 206 Total management schemes 208 The delta as machine: A work without end 212 Local adaptivity and responses to disasters 216 Conclusions 221 9 Hydropower in the Mekong Region: What Are the Likely Impacts upon Fisheries? 227 Juha Sarkkula, Marko Keskinen, Jorma Koponen, Matti Kummu, Jeff E. Richey and Olli Varis Introduction 227 Modellers and modelling 229 Modelled fl ow change and methodological development needs 230 The ecosystem and economic values of resources 239 Peoples’ well-being under threat 242 PART III – INSTITUTIONS, KNOWLEDGE AND POWER 10 The ‘Greening of Isaan’: Politics, Ideology and Irrigation Development in the Northeast of Thailand 253 François Molle, Philippe Floch, Buapun Promphakping and David J. H. Blake Introduction 253 The ‘Greening of Isaan’: A recurring syndrome 254 Aspects and cross-cutting themes 263 Conclusions 275 11 The Promise of Flood Protection: Dikes and Dams, Drains and Diversions 283 Louis Lebel, Bach Tan Sinh, Po Garden, Suong Seng, Le Anh Tuan and Duong Van Truc Introduction 283 Promises of protection 284 Origins and consequences 290 Discussion 297 Conclusions 301 vi CONTESTED WATERSCAPES IN THE MEKONG REGION 12 Songs of the Doomed: The Continuing Neglect of Capture Fisheries in Hydropower Development in the Mekong 307 Richard Friend, Robert Arthur and Marko Keskinen Introduction 307 Perspectives on the ‘importance’ of fi sheries in the Mekong 308 Songs of the doomed: Fisheries in the Mekong 312 Prospects for a fi sheries-based counter-narrative: Crisis under scrutiny 318 Conclusions 324 13 The Anti-Politics of Mekong Knowledge Production 333 Mira Käkönen and Philip Hirsch Introduction 333 Hydrological models at the heart of the Mekong River Commission’s (MRC’s) knowledge production 337 The MRC, the participatory turn in development and new openings in knowledge production 344 Conclusions: Governing water through depoliticized knowledge 350 14 De-marginalizing the Mekong River Commission 357 John Dore and Kate Lazarus Introduction 357 Underutilized 358 Tensions 363 Case study: Laos hydropower, Don Sahong and the Mekong River Commission (MRC) 368 De-marginalizing 373 Conclusions 377 15 Contested Mekong Waterscapes: Where to Next? 383 François Molle, Louis Lebel and Tira Foran Introduction 383 Water governance in the Mekong region 384 Shifting water governance 398 Conclusions 405 Index 415 List of Figures, Tables and Boxes FIGURES 1.1 The main river basins of the Mekong region 3 1.2 The Pa Mong Dam Project (1970) 7 1.3 Plans for hydropower development in Laos 8 2.1 History of World Bank fi nancing in Mekong countries 25 2.2 Location of dams in operation and under construction in the Mekong Basin 29 3.1 Lower Mun Basin and Pak Mun Dam 57 4.1 Nam Theun 2 transmission tower 84 4.2 The Nam Theun 2 project area 90 4.3 Nam Theun 2 resettlement homes 96 4.4 Woman fi shing on the Xe Bang Fai 100 4.5 Excessive road clearance 102 5.1 Approximate locations of the Nu-Salween hydropower projects 120 6.1 Irrigation projects by area in the Lower Mekong Basin 148 6.2 Food price index and irrigation expansion during 1960 to 2009 156 7.1 Hydrological map of the Nam Songkhram Basin showing areas of fl oodplain and relative regional location 175 7.2 Dry season 2005 satellite image of Tung Mon and the Lower Songkhram Basin fl oodplain area west of Sri Songkhram district town, Nakhon Phanom province 182 7.3 SunTech Group vegetable processing factory in Sri Songkhram district 183 7.4 Plant specimens from beside the Mekong in Stung Treng Province, Cambodia, during an exchange visit for members of the Tai Baan Research Network in Nam Songkhram with the Sala Phoum researchers in Cambodia 187 7.5 Members of the multidisciplinary E-Flows study team prepare to take to the water in the Lower Songkhram River Basin with fl ow measuring equipment during the August 2006 fl ood 189 viii CONTESTED WATERSCAPES IN THE MEKONG REGION 8.1 The Vietnamese Mekong Delta 205 8.2 Changes in cropping patterns in the tidal management zone of the delta 220 9.1 Inundated areas due to the increased dry season water level 235 9.2 Schematic presentation of the possible impacts on the fl oodplain extent due to changes in fl ow regime 236 9.3 Flood duration difference based on simulation results 237 9.4 Flooded and remaining tall gallery forest in the case of 0.6m dry season water-level rise 237 10.1 Major infrastructure in the Chi-Mun Basin and the 1965 US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) vision of full development 257 10.2 Khong-Chi-Mun Project: General layout and typical infrastructure 261 10.3 Water Grid in northeast Thailand 262 10.4 Cover of promotional material for the Khong-Chi-Mun Project 267 10.5 Main options for mobilizing water resources in Isaan 273 11.1 The promise of fl ood protection: An initial conceptual model 290 14.1 Mekong River Commission structure