Where’s the Water: Mekong Wet Season 2022

Past
 Event

As the Mekong transitions into the 2022 wet season, river levels are abnormally high. Join this discussion about how this impacts the Mekong and its communities.

2022’s dry season has ended and the river experienced both higher than normal dry season rainfall and severe shocks from upstream dam releases. The unusual dry season rains and dam releases have made the river level abnormally high at the start of the Mekong wet season. Does this help or hurt the Mekong and its communities? Join the Mekong Dam Monitor team and discussants to explore the answer to this question.

This webinar will also use data and information collected from communities in the Mekong to answer the following questions:

  • How did dams impact the Mekong during the 2022 dry season?
  • What is the status of the Mekong’s wet season flood pulse and how does this affect local communities and fisheries?
  • What can be done to alleviate the impacts of dams and other harmful impacts to the health of the river?

Simultaneous translation will be available for 6 local Mekong languages (Burmese, Chinese, Khmer, Lao, Thai, Vietnamese)

Featured Speakers

Alan Basist, President, Eyes on Earth

Alan Basist has worked in climate sciences for almost 40 years with experience ranging from work as a research scientist in NOAA, an employee of a reinsurance company, an entrepreneur identifying climate variability and promoting mitigation and risk management strategies. In 2013 he started Eyes On Earth to service the agricultural and insurance industry on climate related investments, as well as monitoring food and water resources around the world. He is co-lead of the Mekong Dam Monitor.

Ian Baird, Professor of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ian Baird is a Professor of Geography and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research is broadly focused on nature-society relations in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. As a political ecologist, he is presently conducting research about hydropower dams and fish and fisheries; large-scale economic land concessions in Laos and Cambodia; Indigenous peoples in Southeast Asia; Lao, Thai, Hmong and Brao studies; and marginal histories in mainland Southeast Asia.

Chea Seila, USAID Wonders of the Mekong

Ms. Chea Seila is married, a mom of 2 kids. Seila has over 10 years of experience working as a volunteer, researcher, facilitator, coordinator and project manager with projects focusing on protection and management of natural resources and communities’ livelihoods depending on the Mekong River She spent most of her time working in communities along the rivers in Stung Treng Province and around the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. Currently, she helps manage the Wonders of the Mekong Project.

Brian Eyler, Southeast Asia Program Director, The Stimson Center

Brian Eyler directs the Southeast Asia Program and the Energy, Water, and Sustainability Program. He is an expert on transboundary issues in the Mekong region and specializes in China’s economic cooperation with Southeast Asia. He is widely recognized as a leading voice on environmental, energy, and water security issues in the Mekong. Brian is co-lead on the Mekong Dam Monitor. His first book, Last Days of the Mighty Mekong, was published by Zed Books in 2019. 

Moderator

Courtney Weatherby, Southeast Asia Deputy Director, The Stimson Center

Courtney Weatherby is a Deputy Director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Program and a Research Analyst with the Energy, Water, & Sustainability program. Her research focuses on sustainable infrastructure and energy development challenges in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, particularly at the nexus of issues in food, water, and energy in the Greater Mekong Subregion. She provides support to the development and management of the Mekong Dam Monitor.

Subscription Options

* indicates required

Research Areas

Pivotal Places

Publications & Project Lists

38 North: News and Analysis on North Korea