Hanoi (VNA) – The possible impacts of Laos’ PakLay hydropower project on areas along the Mekong River were discussed at anational consultation held by the Vietnam National Mekong Committee (VNMC) inHanoi on January 7.

The Pak Lay project is proposed to be located onthe Mekong mainstream in the Pak Lay district of Xayaburi province, about1,615km from the Mekong Delta of Vietnam that sits at the end of theriver. 

It will be the fourth of its kind in Laos andamong the 11 hydropower projects to be built on the Mekong mainstream acrossLaos and Cambodia. Its construction is scheduled to start in 2022 and becompleted in 2029.

Chief of the VNMC Office Le Duc Trungsaid the consultation aims to look into the impacts of the project’s activitiesand the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat’s technical assessment reportso as to collect the opinions of relevant parties on the project.

Based on the investor’s impact assessmentreport, the VNMC perceived that about 25 million people residing along theMekong River corridor, from the Pak Lay project’s location to the East Sea, arebe likely to be under cross-border cumulative impacts.

Among them, there will be about 12.5 millionpeople in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam under both positive and negativemid-level, long-term impacts.

The investor proposed some solutions, but it hasyet to work out measures to mitigate such cross-border impacts, the VNMC said.

Nguyen Dinh Dat, an expert at the VNMC, said thePak Lay hydropower project will influence the river’s flow, the salineintrusion situation, sediment deposition, water quality, aquatic resources, andwaterways transport in the Mekong Delta.

Notably, if all 11 hydropower dams are built,the total water flow will drop by almost 49 percent over a 10-day period andover 27 percent during a month in Tan Chau town and Chau Doc city, twolocalities of An Giang province located respectively on the Tien and Hau rivers– the two main branches of the Mekong River in Vietnam.

Such an impact has been assessed as serious, Datsaid, adding that it will cause saltwater to penetrate by a maximum of 10.5kmdeep into the land surrounding the Tien and Hau rivers, thus affectingcultivation activities in the dry season.

At the meeting, participants proposed the MRCJoint Committee ask the investor to amend the project’s design, monitorpossible impacts, and take measures to mitigate the adverse effects of the PakLay hydropower project. –VNA