Informing Mekong River Basin resiliency and climate adaptation Active

Thailand has recently faced historic water shortages and severe drought. Various factors may contribute to these historic low water levels including upstream hydropower development in China and Laos, climate change, a year of unusually little rainfall, and historically low and unpredictable Mekong River basin levels. Climate projections suggest intensifying hydrological effects in the Mekong region, including the potential for increasing frequency and intensity of extreme high-flows (Hoang et al. 2016) and rising variability in seasonal rainfall (Shrestha 2014), thus increasing the risk of drought and floods across the region. Localized studies predict similar trends for increasing temperatures, rainfall, and runoff (Petpongpan 2021). Rising surface temperatures and shifts in precipitation are causing many detrimental and undetermined impacts on infrastructure and fisheries. These issues may be further exacerbated by higher water demands to meet agricultural needs, especially in Northern Thailand (Chaowiwat 2016). As a result, concerns persist about the impact of climate variability and planned hydropower development on the region’s economy, environment, as well as food and water supplies. This request advances two of the U.S. Department of State’s environment, science, technology, and health (ESTH) priorities in East Asia and the Pacific: (1) address climate change through ingenuity and innovation and (2) maintain U.S. leadership by operationalizing the Indo-Pacific Strategy in the Mekong region. It is also consistent with Mission Thailand’s recent recommendation to explore mechanisms to embed U.S. climate adaptation and/or fisheries experts in riparian communities to (1) help Mekong communities build resiliency in light of unpredictable and fluctuating river levels; (2) use scientific methods to objectively identify and help address the Mekong River basin’s environmental and economic challenges; (3) support transparency and local voices when discussing the basin’s fluctuating water and sediment levels; and (4) generate good will towards the United States.