China's hydropower plants fill reservoirs, Mekong River water level drops 7%

Update from the MDM Project (Mekong Dam Monitoring Project): Satellite imagery and analysis show that the reservoir of China's Tuoba Dam on the upper Mekong River is full. As of June 23, the dam had retained 1.2 billion ^cubic meters of water from the Mekong River, enough for standard operations for less than six months. It is unusual for dams to store water during the dry season, when they typically release water.

China's Tuoba Dam filled with water (right) at the end of June 2024

"We estimate that the filling of Thac Bat hydropower dam has reduced the water flow to Chiang Saen (Thailand) by about 7% and reduced the flow to Stung Treng (Cambodia) by about 1-2% during the period from February to June 2024," MDM's newsletter said.

In early February 2024, the 1,400 MW Tuoba Dam in Yunnan (China) began filling its reservoir. Tuoba is one of the largest dams on the Mekong River. According to experts, large hydroelectric reservoirs like Tuoba normally take a year to fill enough water for operation. But this reservoir took less than 6 months to fill enough water, and right in the dry season, which was a big surprise.

The general trend of many hydropower dams in China is water storage. During the period from June 17 to 23, the largest water storage activity came from Nuozhadu Dam with 441 million ^m3 and Jinghong Dam with 107 million ^m3 . In contrast, the largest water discharge at Huangdeng Dam was 175 million ^m3 .

Severe drought conditions are returning to much of the Mekong River basin and are evident in northeastern Thailand, central Laos and western parts of Cambodia.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thuy-dien-trung-quoc-tich-day-ho-chua-muc-nuoc-song-mekong-giam-7-185240630154516692.htm