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Mekong Dam Monitor: A New Day for the Mekong & Beyond

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The Problem

The Mekong Basin is home to more than 60 million people whose livelihoods depend on resources generated by the river’s natural processes.
20% of the world’s freshwater fish catch comes from the Mekong. This catch underpins regional food security.
A seasonal flood cycle drives this fish catch and agricultural production in the region. For example, Vietnam’s Mekong Delta produces 50% of its rice export and 75% of its aquaculture export.
Upstream dams and climate impacts are delivering short-term and long-term threats to the river’s natural flow processes and resource provision.
To date, operational knowledge of China’s 11 dam cascade on the upper Mekong has been kept inside a black box. The same can be said for numerous other dams in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

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The Problem

The effects of dam operations are proven to severely alter the Mekong’s hydrological cycle, incur severe economic costs to downstream stakeholders, and erode critically important ecological cycles
Particularly, China’s withholding of data and non-transparency creates an accountability gap which:

Results in suboptimal decisions downstream
Causes untold environmental, social, and economic impacts
Erodes the transboundary river governance capacity of Lower Mekong stakeholders and the efforts of development partners to support the Lower Mekong

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The Solution

In early 2020, the Stimson Center and Eyes on Earth began an effort to promote transparency and evidence-based processes using remote sensing data and satellite imagery to, for the first time, open the black box on the upper Mekong dam operations and river conditions throughout the basin
One key finding was an unprecedented restriction of water on China’s upstream during the 2019 and 2020 wet seasons while Lower Mekong countries suffered historical drought.
Our work led to pilot funding of $215,000 from the U.S. Department of State and the Chino Cienega Foundation to build and launch the Mekong Dam Monitor.

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Mekong Dam Monitor

The Mekong Dam Monitor launched on December 15, 2020 at monitor.mekongwater.org
We use remote sensing and satellite imagery to show where water is, where it’s going, and where it should be via weekly updates.
All data is freely available and analytical methods can easily be transferred in order to facilitate inclusion of research partners and promote citizen science
We focus on all mainstream dams and dams > 200MW in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
Mekong Dam Monitor Objectives:

Increase accountability for Mekong upstream dam operations
Allow downstream stakeholders to anticipate and mitigate downstream impacts (e.g. drought and sudden flood events)
Improve the overall negotiating position of downstream Mekong countries for a more equitable share of water and improve methods for basin-wide water management
Reduce risks of ecological breakdown

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Key Outcomes:

Ongoing, consistent, standardized monitoring of previously unmonitored indicators
Transparency enables stakeholders to anticipate environmental impacts of upstream operations to:

Improve strategic negotiation capacity
Improve transboundary river governance
Improve autonomous decision making.

The Mekong Dam Monitor improves knowledge of the benefits of natural river flow, improves opportunities for broad conservation of the Mekong’s natural resource provisions and greatly reduces risks to ecological breakdown in the Mekong.

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Early Success:

We issue alerts to our stakeholder network and via social media updates every time we detect a >50cm change in river level in less than 24-hours. This notification arrives up to 48 hours prior to impacts hitting the downstream
This allows downstream stakeholders to adapt and understand more about China’s operations of upstream dams.
Our ongoing alerts (17) and advisories provided the Mekong River Commission with evidence to launch a communications effort to improve data and water sharing.

Measurable Impacts (post 12/15 launch)	Y1 Target	Dec20	Jan21	Feb21	Mar21	Apr 21	May21
Number of environmental impacts alerted/ predicted	7	0	1	2	5	3	5
Unique media stories (English lang)	30	22	9	10	14	3	3
Social media engagements	110,000	64,300	237,046	45,600	48,581	36,941	45,145

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Drawing attention, expanding the aperture

The focus that the Mekong Dam Monitor brings to the region gives attention to a wider range threats.
Locals are now frequently communicating with media and government about how dams reduce fish catches, kill wetlands and forests which they use for food and community purposes, and threaten endangered species.

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Forging collaborative partnerships, Changing the status quo

Government authorities in downstream countries call our data “ammunition” to improve negotiations with China.
The China’s Mekong authorities responding to the Mekong River Commission’s (MRC) increasing call for data sharing and after our January alert, China’s Mekong authorities now has replaced some of its Mekong data with verified MRC data.
Due to the attention we bring to damaging hydropeaking practices from the Jinghong Dam in China, the MRC is negotiating with China’s water authorities for reduced hydropeaking operations.
The monitor also provides an evidence-based argument to planners to avoid future hydropower buildout and instead pursue alternative pathways to power generation expansion in the region.

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Traction/Strategy

Growth Strategy: We plan to deepen monitoring in the Mekong, form strategic partnerships, localize our services, and expand methods to other rivers
Scalability: All processes can be easily replicated in other stressed river basins

Phase 1

Months 1-6

Launch platform (Dec. 15, 2020)
Create behavioral change
Gain social media/media following

Phase 2

Months 7-17

Localize
Form collaborative partnerships
Establish relationship with insurance industry
Deepen research indicators
Secure sustaining funding

Phase 3

Months 18-29

Begin to transfer processes to local partners
Establish Trigger mechanisms for Cat Models
Develop new platform in a different river basin

Phase 4

Months 30-36

Fully hand off Phase 1 platform to local partner, maintain research association
Launch new platform, repeat Phase 1 for new platform

Questions to answer:

Moving forward, we plan to deepen our monitoring in the Mekong; localize our products; form strategic collaborations; and build monitors in other river basins.

To highlight a few phase 1 milestones, already since our launch last December, we’ve tracked how China’s water authorities are now acting in a more collaborative and transparent way. Also, authorities in countries downstream tell us they now have the “ammunition” to take to their negotiations with China. Still much work is needed. ��In the next few months we will enter the critical phase of localizing our service - that is, developing local language products and creating ways for local citizen scientists to contribute to the Monitor’s impact.

We also seek to liaise with the insurance industry. We believe with the monitor’s data and alerts in hand, insurance providers can help provide benefits when disaster hits, and also provide sustaining funding for the Monitor. �

It is our full intention to eventually hand off the monitor to a local institution, since after all this service is best housed in the region. After handoff, we’ll keep a working relationship with the host while we build monitors in other water-stressed rivers around the world.

Show your timeline and milestones to date

What are the achievements? Revenue and number of customers to date (if exist)

Highlight press, partnerships, accolades

Customer success stories and/or testimonials

To implement growth of our user base and improve services we believe: Localization, forming collaborative partnerships, and establishHow are you going to implement customer growth?

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Project Team*

Brian Eyler

Co-lead, Stimson Southeast Asia Program Director
Author, Last Days of the Mighty Mekong

Dr. Jenna Shinen

US Department of State OES-Mekong Water Team
Transboundary Water Management, Water Data Science

Alan Basist

Co-lead, President Eyes on Earth, Inc; NOAA
Climate Science, Risk insurance

Dr. John Bolten

Associate Program Manager of Water Resources, NASA Applied Sciences Program
Water science, remote sensing

Partner

Organizations:

Advisory Board*

Dr. Jennifer Turner

China Environment Forum Director, Woodrow Wilson Center

Dr. Rafael Schmitt

Stanford Woods Institute and Natural Capital Project

Allison Carr

Research Associate, Stimson Center
Remote sensing, geospatial analysis

Claude Williams

President, Global Environmental Satellite Applications
Remote sensing, geospatial analysis

*non-exhaustive list, see project website for full list of project team and advisory board members

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Selected media stories:�

South China Morning Post: “US-backed Mekong monitoring project set to test China’s patience.” December 14, 2021
Bloomberg News: “U.S. Steps Up Scrutiny of Chinese Built Dams on Mekong Basin.” December 15, 2021
VN News Express: “Vietnam welcomes initiatives to ensure sustainable use of Mekong River water.” - December 17, 2021
Reuters: “China notifies Mekong River neighbours it is holding back waters.” January 6, 2021
Bangkok Tribune: “Mekong Turns Blue, Again.” February 10, 2021
Circle of Blue: “Five Bright Spots in the Mekong.” March 22, 2021
The Third Pole: “Volatile Mekong Threatens Birds Nests.” March 24, 2021
NS Energy: “How the Mekong Dam Monitor platform provides increased river basin transparency.” April 19, 2021.

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Thank you for your consideration.�

Follow the Mekong Dam Monitor at monitor.mekongwater.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mekongdammonitor
Twitter: @mekongmonitor
Contact Project co-lead Brian Eyler: beyler@stimson.org

Stimson Center

1211 Connecticut Ave, NW 8^th Floor

Washington, DC 20036

+1 (202) 684-0338