The Mekong River Basin

The Mekong River Basin: Ecohydrological complexity from catchment to coast present real facts and data and predictions for quantifying human-induced changes throughout the Mekong watershed including its estuaries and coasts, and proposes solutions to decrease or mitigate the negative effect and enable sustainable development. It is the first work to link socio-ecological interaction study over the whole Mekong River basin under the lens of ecohydrology. Each chapter is written by a leading expert and ranges from coverage on climate change, to groundwater, land use, flooding drought, biodiversity and anthropological issues.

Human activities are enormous in the whole watershed and they are still increasing throughout the catchment and severe negative impacts on natural resources are emerging. Among these activities, hydropower dams, especially a series of 11 dams in China, are the most critical; they generate massive changes throughout the system including in the delta and to the livelihoods of millions of people and they threaten sustainability. This book is an an essential reference for academics and water resources managers throughout South East Asia and worldwide.