The Mekong 2025 wet season is currently experiencing the wettest conditions in years. The Tonle Sap has already reversed course earlier than expected, and the Mekong floodpulse is at a higher level than the last five years. How will dam operators react to the wetter than normal conditions? Will they fill reservoirs now and stunt the floodpulse, or will they take a gradual approach to protect the Mekong’s ecology? Importantly, what will the 2025 wet season bring in terms of extreme weather?
Events such as Typhoon Yagi in 2024 are causing increasing water management challenges, with rapid onset flooding often crossing national borders and causing billions of dollars of damage to local communities. Such events intersect with the operations of physical infrastructure like dams. They also can impact the severity of pollution caused by illegal rare earth mining in Mekong tributaries. When ill-managed, wastewater from mining can pollute tributaries as was recently witnessed in the Kok and Ruak tributaries of the Mekong.
Join the Mekong Dam Monitor team for its forecast for the 2025 wet season and overview of dam operations and other developments during the 2025 dry season. Guest speakers will touch on ongoing challenges, including the impacts of illegal mining on the Mekong River system.
Featured Speakers
Brian Eyler, Senior Fellow and Director, Southeast Asia Program; Director, Energy, Water, and Sustainability Program, Stimson Center
Pai Deetes, Southeast Asia Program Regional Campaigns Director, International Rivers
Alan Basist, President, Eyes on Earth
Stefan Lovgren, Author, Journalist, and Filmmaker
Apinun Suvarnaraksha, Lecturer, Maejo University
Courtney Weatherby, Fellow, Energy, Water, & Sustainability Program; Deputy Director, Southeast Asia Program; Stimson Center (Moderator)