MIS)Managing contested trans boundary resources along the se san river, lower mekong basin

(MIS)MANAGING CONTESTED TRANS-BOUNDARY RESOURCES ALONG THE SE SAN RIVER, LOWER MEKONG BASIN UFFE RAUNSHOLT POULSEN (BSc International Trade, Copenhagen Business School, MA Environment and Development, SOAS, University of London) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2009 Acknowledgements I would like to thank all of those who helped my thesis become reality. First of all my supervisor Dr. Carl Grundy-Warr from NUS (National University of Singapore – Department of Geography) who’s valuable assistance proved very helpful in many cases. Also I would like to thank Associate Professor Victor R. Savage and Associate Professor Lu Xixi (also NUS Department of Geography) for their assistance on my first submission and I would like to thank the NUS Registrars Office and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences for allowing me to complete this re-submission. Further I would like to thank all the people I worked with at the MRCS – The Mekong River Commission Secretariat in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, especially the former CEO Mr. Joern Kristensen, who offered me a great opportunity to learn about Mekong Cooperation and the gaps and challenges facing the region. Then I would like to thank all the people in Cambodia, particularly in the villages along the Se San River who helped me put into practice my ideas from the NUS Campus and Library. Also I would like to thank the SPN (Se San Protection Network) NGO which helped me get valuable access to the villages and fishermen along the Se San River, Gordon Paterson for sharing his longstanding knowledge on Natural Resources issues and Mr Kamduan the 2nd District Head of Andoung Meas which helped me with access to water level data and last but not least Ian Baird, one of the researchers with the most intimate knowledge of the Se San Basin. Also thanks to the others in the Se San Basin, mostly fishermen and villagers who contributed to my research. Also I would like to thank my current and previous employers UNDP and UNICEF as well as previous employer, the UN Secretariat and the people I have worked with who have always supported me in my research. And last but not least a big thank to the NUS Department of Geography and its staff members and examiners, and especially Professor Henry Yeung, Associate Proessor Susanne Schech, and Associate Professor Tim Bunnell for guiding me through my Oral Exam. Table of Contents Page Summary Chapter 1: Introduction: Hydropower, Tangled Nets and Cross-Border Tensions 1. Introduction: Hydropower, Tangled Nets and Cross-Border Tensions 1.1 The Yali Dam and hydropower developments affecting the Se San Watershed 1.2 The Yali Falls trans-border incidents 14 1.3 Thematic foci 16 1.4 Road Map (of subsequent chapters) 19 Chapter 2: Concepts and the Trans-border Mekong Basin 22 2. Concepts and the Trans-border Mekong Basin 23 2.1 Mekong River Basin and Trans-border Resource Politics 23 2.2 International Legal Frameworks 28 2.3 Hydro-politics 31 2.4 Watershed Management 33 2.5 Political Ecology 35 2.6 International Legal Doctrines and Principles 38 2.7 Politics of ‘Scale’, ‘Position’ and ‘Place’ 44 Chapter 3: Methodology 50 3. Methodology 51 3.1 Questions and Methods 51 3.2 Research as an ‘insider’ via internships 52 3.3 Official, confidential, and unofficial sources 59 3.4 Fieldwork and observations 62 3.5 Languages and interpretation 64 Chapter 4: Geopolitics of Contested Borderlands Space and Resources in the Mekong 68 4. Geopolitics of Contested Borderlands Space and Resources 69 in the Mekong 4.1 Geopolitical boundaries in the Mekong past and present 70 4.2 Political Boundaries partitioning the Mekong 79 4.3 Boundary clashes between Cambodia and Viet Nam 86 4.4 Ratanakiri as a Khmer Rouge base 88 4.5 Mekong Committee and Cold War geopolitics 93 4.6 Regional ‘resource geopolitics’ and hydropower markets 97 4.7 Geopolitics, ‘resource frontiers’ and indigenous peoples 102 Chapter 5: The MRC negotiating the obstacles of political sovereignty and trans-border politics 108 5. The MRC negotiating the obstacles of political sovereignty and trans-border politics 109 5.1 Politics of ‘scale’ and the role of MRC in trans-border water governance 112 5.2 Political definitions of ‘nature” and ‘natural’ limits to the MRC mandate 117 5.3 Clashes in conceptions of the MRC’s ‘social’ role and responsibilities 121 5.4 Role and influence of the MRC Secretariat and of MRCS CEO’s 125 5.5 Major state players, national economic interests, nationalism and sovereignty hindering genuine trans-border MRC cooperation 129 5.6 Country issues 130 5.6.1 Thailand 130 5.6.2 Lao PDR 133 5.6.3 Cambodia 135 5.6.4 Viet Nam 137 5.6.5 China: The dragon of absolute sovereignty 139 5.7 The MRC in relation to the Se San and Sre Pok Rivers 140 5.8 Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA’s) 146 5.9 Multi-scaled cross-border politics, civil society and the MRC 150 Chapter 6: Sovereignty, trans-border ‘local resources’ and indigenous knowledge 158 6. Sovereignty, trans-border ‘local resources’ and indigenous knowledge 159 6.1 Peripheral and marginal within and between nation-states 161 6.2 The question of social and environmental impact assessments 162 6.3 ‘Local’ downstream impacts and questions of ‘scale’ 164 6.4 Trans-border ‘local’ impacts of dams and hydrology and water levels 170 6.5 Trans-border ‘local’ impacts upon fisheries and fish-based livelihoods 178 6.6 Trans-border ‘local’ impacts on riverbank gardens 184 6.7 Indigenous livelihoods and food security 185 6.8 Negotiating indigenous livelihoods and civil society politics in the Mekong 194 Chapter 7: Collaborative Knowledge and Pro-active Alliances in Mekong Politics 199 7. Collaborative Knowledge and Pro-active Alliances in Mekong Politics 200 7.1 Story-lines and stereotypes 200 7.2 ‘Trans-border scale’ politics and the national geographic 203 7.3 Community-based politics of ‘scale’, ‘position’ and ‘place’ 205 7.4 Producing ‘natural capital’, merging methods and agendas 208 7.5 MRC as a knowledge producer and data-broker 213 7.6 Water quality and public health: Gaps in knowledge and participation 215 7.7 Comparative science for mitigation of adverse impacts 218 7.8 Multi-pronged preventative diplomacy 219 Chapter 8: Conclusion: (Mis) Managing Contested Mekong Waters. New Challenges, Conflicts and Directions 223 8. Conclusion: (Mis) Managing Contested Mekong Waters. New Challenges, Conflicts and Directions 224 8.1 Critical Reflections 224 8.2 Ss Basins versus 3SPN: Clashing Conceptions of Waterscapes 228 8.3 Implications of Lower Mekong Mainstream Dams: The Case of Xayaburi Dam in Lao PDR 235 8.4 Future Research on Trans-Border Resource Governance in the Mekong 239 9. Appendices 243 10. Bibliography 271 List of Figures 1.1.1 Figure Se San Watershed 1.1.2 Historically proposed hydropower schemes in the Se San River Basin 1.1.3 Location of hydropower projects in the Se San River Basin 11 4.1.1 Map of Burma, Siam and French Indochina 71 4.1.2 Fisherman crossing the Khone Falls 74 4.2.1 Physical and political boundaries of the Mekong Basin 80 4.2.2 Bio-geographical zones of the Mekong Basin 81 5.1.1 MRC Governance Structure 114 6.3.1 Map of the Se San, Sre Pok and Se Kong Rivers in Cambodia Viet Nam border area 168 6.4.1 Map of the Se San River Basin 172 6.4.2 Simulated and observed water levels at Andoung Meas – dry season 174 6.4.3 Simulated water levels at Andoung Meas – rainy season 174 6.5.1 Impact of Dam on Se San River Ecosystem Structure 180 List of Appendices: 1: List of people interviewed during fieldwork 243 2: Basin Development Plan Programme Phase 2, 2006-2010 Programme Document Final Version 15 August 2006 – Executive Summary 244 3: EVN News 248 4: Letter to the Cambodian Minister for Water Management and 251 Meteorology (and Chairperson of the CNMC) on the planned Don Sahong Dam (English Version) 5: Possible Mainstream Projects on the Mekong River 1961 254 6: Images from the Se San River 255 7: Letters from concerned scientists (AMRC and World Fish Center letterheads) 266 Summary The thesis discusses the issues related to (mis)management of the Se San River in Ratanakiri Province in Northeast Cambodia, as part of the Mekong River Basin. Dam construction on the Vietnamese side of the border of this trans-boundary river (and other rivers in the same basin) has been a contributing factor to infrequent water levels on both sides of the river, resulting in a loss of food security and lacking both environmental and social assessments, especially in Cambodia and Laos. The rivers of the Mekong Basin are truly borderless in nature and therefore the thesis also examines the geopolitical issues between the countries of the Mekong Basin and in particular the issues between the countries of Cambodia and Vietnam. The historical events in the Mekong Basin since colonial times for which especially the French but also the British to a large extent were responsible have in many ways defined what the Basin is today. Subsequent upheaval and war in Cambodia set this country back many years and it did not receive much help from its neighbours in getting back on its feet. Only in recent years has the country benefited from strong economic growth and discovery of mineral resources off-shore. However the country itself is abundant in natural resources and should be counted among the largest potential producers of rice (in the Mekong plains) and also its forests’ give life to fish and rivers in the region. I became most interested in the issues related to Cambodia, The Mekong Basin and in particular the Se San River through my internships with UNESCAP in Bangkok (Water Security Section) and the MRC Secretariat in Phnom Penh and they helped me define the contents of this thesis. Being a microcosm of the Mekong Basin as such, the Se San River Basin is affected by multi-scale politics, sovereignty issues and mis-management of valuable environmental resources. Simultaneously, the thesis argues that questions of race and ethnicity (related to the people living in the highlands) are deeply implicated in issues related to social and environmental issues in river (highland) areas of the Mekong Basin. The people of Ratanakiri province are to a great extent indigenous and did originally not receive great attention from the central government in Phnom Penh, which was a contributing factor to the lack of focus on the issues of the Se San River. However in recent years UNDP and other UN agencies and a wide range of NGOs have been working with the government on the issues challenging the indigenous communities of North-East Cambodia, both in terms of natural resources management and good governance as well as human protection. Food security in the region was earlier a serious issue after the fish had almost disappeared from dammed rivers, but fortunately small streams gave opportunity for growing vegetables and the remaining forests also offered a good source of food after logging, which happened with great force in the last decade, had slowly subsided. Blaikie, P., (1998). Post-modernism and the calling out of development geography, paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Boston, March 25–29. Bou Saroeun (2000) ‘Huge Viet dam devastates Se San valley and its people’, Phnom Penh Post, June 2000. Bush, S. (2005) Fish Decline in the Sekong / Se San / Sre Pok River Basin. An Introduction to its Causes and Remedies, Victoria: Oxfam Australia. Braun, B. and Castree, N. (1998) ‘The construction of nature and the nature of construction: Analytical and political tools for building survivable futures’, in B. Braun and N. Castree (editors) Remaking Reality: Nature at the Millennium, London: Routledge: 3-42. Braun, B and Castree, N. (2001) Social nature: theory, practice and politics, Oxford and New York: Blackwell. Browder (2000) ‘An analysis of the negotiations for the 1995 Mekong Agreement’, International Negotiation, 5. Browder , G. and Ortolano (2000) ‘An evolution of an international water resources management regime in the Mekong River basin’, Natural Resources Journal, 40, 3, Summer Chatterjee, P. (2004) The Politics of the Governed: Reflections on Popular Politics in Most of the World, Colombia: Colombia University Press. Chomchai, P. (1987) ‘The Mekong project: an exercise in regional cooperation to develop the lower Mekong basin”. In: Ali, M., Radosevich, G.E., Khan, A.A. (Eds.), Water Resources Policy for Asia. A.A. Balkema: Rotterdam and Boston, pp. 497–508. Chomchai, P. (1995) ‘Management of Trans-boundary Water Resources: A Case Study of the Mekong’ in Blake, The Peaceful Management of Trans-boundary Resources, p. 245259. Cloke, P et. al (2004): Practicing human geography. London: Sage (p 169-205) Colm, S. (2000) ‘Forest of the spirits: Impacts of the Hero logging concession on the indigenous culture of the Kreung’, Watershed, 6, July-October: 32-41. Cox, K.R. (1998) ‘Spaces of dependence, spaces of engagement and the politics of scale, or looking for local politics’, Political Geography, 17, 1: 1-23. 274 Cuasay, P. and Vaddhanaphuti, C. (editors) (2005) Commonplaces and Comparisons. Remaking Eco-Political Spaces in Southeast Asia, Chiang Mai: Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Chiang Mai University. Cuasay, P. and Vaddhanaphuti, C. (2005) ‘Commonplaces, comparisons and human consequences’, in P. Cuasay, and C. Vaddhanaphuti, (editors) (2005) Commonplaces and Comparisons. Remaking Eco-Political Spaces in Southeast Asia, Chiang Mai: Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Chiang Mai University. 11-18. CRES (2001) Study into Impact of Yali Falls Dam on Resettled and Downstream Communities, Hanoi: Centre for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, Viet Nam National University, February 2001. Dalby, S. (2002) Environmental Security, Borderlines, Volume 20, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Daming, He and Chen Linhui (2002) ‘The impact of hydropower cascade development in the Lancang-Mekong basin’, Mekong Update and Dialogue, 53: 2-4. Darrin, M. (2006) ‘Powershed politics: Yunnan hydropower under Great Western Development’, The China Quarterly, 185: 23-41. De Lopez, T. (2001) ‘Deforestation in Cambodia: A stakeholder management approach’, International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 8: 380-394. Diokno, M.S.I and Nguyen Van Chinh (editors) (2006) The Mekong Arranged and Rearranged, Chiang Mai: Mekong Press. Dore, J. (2008) ‘A theory and practice of deliberative water politics for the Mekong region’, Volume III, Proceedings of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, 2nd International Forum on Water and Food, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Dore, J. (2003) ‘The governance of increasing Mekong regionalism.’ In John Dore and Mingsarn Kaosa-ard (editors), Social Challenges for the Mekong Region, Bangkok: White Lotus. Dore, John (2001): Environmental Governance in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region, Chiang Mai University, also see: http://pdf.wri.org/mekong_governance_mreg_dore.pdf (later published by WRI in 2003) Dore, J. and Yu, X. (2004) Yunnan Hydropower Expansion. Update on China’s Energy Industry Reforms and the Nu, Lancang and Jiansha Hydropower Dams, Working Paper, 275 Chiang Mai University: Unit for Social and Environmental Research and Green Watershed, China. Dudgeon, D. (2000) ‘Large-scale hydrological changes in tropical Asia: Prospects for riverine biodiversity’, Bioscience, 50, 9: 792-806. Eriksen, T.H. (1993) Ethnicity and Nationalism – Anthropological Perspectives, London: Pluto Press Escobar, A. (2001) ‘Culture sits in places’, Political Geography, 20: 139-174. Escobar, A. (1998) ‘Whose knowledge, whose nature? Biodiversity, conservation, and the political ecology of social movements’, Journal of Political Ecology, 5: 53-81. Evans, G. (2002) A Short History of Laos: The Land in between, Sydney: Allen & Unwin Featherstone, D. (2008) Resistance, Space and Political Identities: The Making of Counter-Global Networks, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Fisheries Office and NTFP (2000) A Study of Downstream Impacts of the Yali Falls Dam in the Se San River Basin in Ratanakiri Province, Northeast Cambodia, Ratanakiri Province: The Fisheries Office, Ratanakiri Province. Forsyth, T. and Walker, A. (editors) (2008) Forest Guardians, Forest Destroyers. The Politics of Environmental Knowledge in Northern Thailand, Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books. Fox, J. (2002) Siam Mapped and mapping in Cambodia: Boundaries, sovereignty, and indigenous conceptions of space’, Society and Natural Resources, 15: 65-78. Ganjanapan, A.(1998) ‘The politics of conservation and the complexity of local control of forests in the northern Thai highlands’, Mountain Research and Development, 18, pp 71-82. Glassman, J. (2001) ‘From Seattle (and Ubon) to Bangkok: The scales of resistance to corporate globalization’, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 20, 5: 513533. Global Witness (2007) Cambodia’s Family Trees. Illegal Logging and the Stripping of Public Assets by Cambodia’s Elite, Washington DC: Global Witness, June 2007. Global Witness (2004) Taking A Cut. Institutionalised Corruption and Illegal Logging in Cambodia’s Aural Wildlife Sanctuary, Washington DC: Global Witness, November 2004. 276 Global Witness (2002) Deforestation Without Limits. How the Cambodian Government Failed to Tackle the Untouchables, Washington DC: Global Witness, July 2002. Global Witness (2000) Chainsaws Speak Louder Than Words, Briefing Document, Washington DC: Global Witness, May 2000. Goh, E. (2004) China in the Mekong River Basin: The Regional Security Implications of Resource Development in the Lancang Jiang, Singapore: Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, IDSS, Working Paper. Grundy-Warr, C. (1998) ‘Turning the political map inside out: A view of mainland Southeast Asia’, in Victor R. Savage, Lily Kong and Warwick Neville (editors) The Naga Awakens. Growth and Change in Southeast Asia, Singapore: Times Academic Press, 2987. Hajer, M.A. (1995) The Politics of Environmental Discourse. Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process, Oxford: Clarendon Press. Halcrow and Partners (1999) Sekong, Se San and Nam Theun River Basins Hydropower Development Study, Manila: Asian Development Bank. Hamilton-Merrit, J. (1993) Tragic Mountains. The Hmong, the Americans, and the Secret Wars for Laos, 1942-1992,Bloomington & Indianapolis, Indiana University Press. Heathcote, L.W. (1998) Integrated Watershed Management: Principles and Practice, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hirsch, P. (2010) ‘The changing political dynamics of dam building on the Mekong’, Water Alternatives, 3, 2: 312-323 Hirsch, P. (2007) ‘The Mekong River Commission and the question of national interest(s)’, Watershed, 12, 1, July 2006 – February 2007: 20-25. Hirsch, P. (2006 a) ‘Water governance reform and catchment management in the Mekong Basin’, The Journal of Environment and Development, 15, 2: 184-201. Hirsch, P. (2006 b) ‘Governing water as a common good in the Mekong river basin: Issue of scale’, Transforming Cultures e-Journal, 1, 2, June 2006. URL: http://epress.lib.arts.edu.au/journals/TfC Hirsch, P. (2004) ‘The politics of fisheries knowledge in the Mekong river basin’, Proceedings (refereed) of the Second Large Rivers Symposium, Phnom Penh, Mekong River Commission. 277 Hirsch, P. (2000) ‘Changing geopolitics and economic models in the Mekong region’, Conference on “Accounting for Development”, June 23-24, 2000, University of Sydney, Australia. Hirsch, P. (1995) ‘Thailand and the new geopolitics of Southeast Asia: Resource and environmental issues’, in Jonathan Rigg (editor) Counting the Costs. Economic Growth and Environmental Change in Thailand, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies: 235-258. Hirsch, P. and Wyatt, A. (2004) ‘Negotiating local livelihoods: Scales of conflict in the Se San river basin’, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 45, 1: 51-68. Howitt, R. (2003) ‘Scale’, in J. Agnew, K. Mitchell, and G. Toal (editors) A Companion to Political Geography, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 138-157. Human Rights Watch (HRW) (2009) On the Margins. Right Abuses of Ethnic Khmer in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, New York, January, 2009 International Rivers (August 2011) ‘Report from the field: A visit to the Xayaburi Dam site’, online (03 August, 2011), http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/6791 (accessed 03 August, 2011) International Rivers (June 2011) ‘Laos steamrolls neighbors in Xayaburi Dam process’, online (23 June, 2011), http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/6664 (accessed 30 July, 2011) International Rivers (March 2011) ‘Official review of the Xayaburi Dam reveals project flaw’, online (31 March, 2011), http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/6388 (accessed 08 June, 2011) International Rivers (January 2011) The Xayaburi Dam. A Looming Threat to the Mekong River, Berkeley, CA: IR, January International Rivers Network (IRN) (2008) Power Surge. The Impacts of Rapid Dam Development in Laos, Berkeley, California: IRN, September, 2008. International Rivers Network (IRN) (2004) Report on the Consequences of Upstream Dams, Berkeley, California: IRN. International Rivers Network (IRN) (2002) China’s Upper Mekong Dams Endanger Millions Downstream, Berkeley, California: IRN Briefing Paper 3, October 2002. International Rivers Network website: www.internationalrivers.org 278 Jacobs, J.W. (2002) ‘The Mekong River Commission: Transboundary water resources planning and regional security’, The Geographical Journal, 168, 4: 354-364. Jacobs, J.W. (1995) ‘Mekong Committee history and lessons for river basin development’, The Geographical Journal, 168: 354-364. Johns, F, Saul, B, Hirsch, P, Stephens, T and Boer, B (2010) ‘Law and the Mekong River Basin: A socio-legal research agenda on the role of hard and soft law in regulating transboundary water resources,’ Melbourne Journal of International Law, 11: 1-21 Johnson, L.B. (1965) in Fall, B. and Raskin, M.G. The Viet-Nam Reader, New York: Random House, page 346 Khao, S.N., Lorenzen, C., Garaway, Chamsinhg, D., Siebert, D., and Randone, M. (2005) ‘Impacts of irrigation on fisheries in rain-fed rice farming landscapes’, Journal of Applied Ecology, 42: 892-900. Khundee, S.G. (2008) ‘Cambodia’s biggest hydropower dams serious threats to people’, Living River Siam, 28 January, 2008 (available at: http://www.searin.org/Th/Mekong/mek_ne37.html). Kiernan, B. (1986) Cambodia: Eastern Zone Massacres, New York: Columbia University Center for the Study of Human Rights, Documentation Series no. 1. Kiernan, B. (2004) How Pol Pot Came to Power, New Haven: Yale University Press Keyes, J. (2008) Thailand and World War II, Chiang Mai : Silkworm Books Keyes, C. (2008) ‘Ethnicity and the nation-states of Thailand and Vietnam’, in Prasit Leepreecha, Don McCaskill and Kwanchewan Buadaeng (editors) Challenging the Limits. Indigenous Peoples of the Mekong Region, Chiang Mai: Mekong Press, 13-54. Kim, S. and Tep, B. (July 2006) Lessons Learned but Not Learned: Water Governance in the S Rivers Region, Ratanakiri, SPN. Kuroiwa (2007) ‘Dams causing algae-induced ill health and poverty? Stories from the Mekong’, BioScience Trends, 1, 3: 119-20. Kristensen, J. (2001) ‘Food security and development in the Lower Mekong river basin. A challenge for the Mekong River Commission’, presented at the Asia and Pacific Forum on Poverty: Reforming Policies and Institutions for Poverty Reduction, Asian Development Bank, Manila, 5-9 February, 2001. 279 Lansing, J.S., Lansing, P.S, and Erazo, J.S. (1998) ‘The value of a river’, Journal of Political Ecology, 5: 1-22. Laungaramsri, Pinkeaw (2001) Redefining Nature: Karen Ecological Knowledge and the Challenge to the Modern Conservation Paradigm, Chang Mai: Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiang Mai University. Laungaramsri, Pinkaew (1999) ‘Rai, rai lu’an loy, rai mun wian and the politics of ‘shifting cultivation’, Watershed, 5, 1: 39-46. Le Billon, P. (2001) ‘The political ecology of war: Natural resources and armed conflicts’, Political Geography, 20: 561-584. Le Billon, P. (2002) ‘Logging in Muddy Waters: the Politics of Forest Exploitation in Cambodia’, Critical Asian Studies 34(4): 563-586. Lebel, L., Garden, P. and Imamura, M. (2005) ‘The politics of scale, position, and place in the governance of water resources in the Mekong region’, Ecology and Society, 18, 2. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol10/iss2/art18/ Le Marquand, D.G. (1977) International Rivers: The politics of cooperation, Vancouver: Westwater Research Center. Leepreecha, P., McCaskill, D., and Buadaeng, K. (2008) Challenging the Limits. Indigenous Peoples of the Mekong Region, Chiang Mai: Mekong Press. Lerner, M. (2003) Dangerous Waters: Violations of International Law and Hydropower Development along the Sesan River, Oxfam America, Phnom Penh: Southeast Asia Regional Office Lim, J.-J. (1984) Territorial power domains, Southeast Asia, and China: the geo-strategy of an overarching massif, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Linnerooth-Bayer, J., Löfstedt, R.E., and Sjöstedt, G. (editors) (2001) Transboundary Risk Management, London: Earthscan. Magee, D. (2006) ‘Powershed politics. Yunnan hydropower under Great Western Development’, The China Quarterly, 185: 23-41. Mak Sithirith (2007) Cooperation in the Mekong River Basin. A Reflection of Cambodia’s Experiences in the Development of the Mekong Region, Chiang Mai: 280 Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiang Mai University. Malay, A. Jr. (2006) ‘Configuring “Indochina”: 19th century explorations of the Mekong’, in Maria Serena I. Diokno and Nguyen Van Chinh (editors) The Mekong Arranged and Rearranged, Chiang Mai: Mekong Press,19-42. Martin, M.A. (1994) Cambodia A Shattered Society, Berkeley: University of California Press McCaffrey, Stephen C. (2001) The Law of International Watercourses: Non-navigational uses, Oxford University Press McCaskill, D. and Kampe, K. (Eds. 1997) Development or domestication? Indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia, Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books McCaskill, D., Leepreecha, P., and He, S. (editors) (2008) Living in a Globalized World. Ethnic Minorities in the Greater Mekong Subregion, Chiang Mai: Mekong Press. McCarthy, J. (1900 / 1994 reprint) Surveying and Exploring in Siam, with Descriptions of Lao Dependencies and of Battles Against the Chinese Haw, Bangkok: White Lotus. McCormack, G. (2001) ‘Water margins. Competing paradigms in China’, Critical Asian Studies, 33, 1: 5-30. McCully, P. (1996) Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams, London: Zed Books. McElwee, P. (1999) ‘Policies of prejudice: Ethnicity and shifting cultivation in Vietnam’, Watershed, 5, 1, July-October: 30-38. McKenney, B. (2001) Economic Valuation of Livelihood Income Losses and other Tangible Downstream Impacts from the Yali Falls Dam to the Se San River Basin in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia, McVey, R.T. (1984) ‘Separatism and Paradoxes of the Nation-State in Perspective’ in Lim Joo-Jock and S. Vani (eds) Armed Separatism in Southeast Asia, Singapore: ISEAS, pp 13-14 Mekong News (October – December 2006) ‘MRC aids tranboundary water quality study’, Vientiane: MRC. Mekong Committee (1974) Mekong Committee Annual Report, Bangkok: Mekong Committee. 281 Mekong Secretariat (1970) Indicative Basin Plan Report, Bangkok: Mekong Committee. Mekong River Commission Secretariat (2008) ‘The Four ‘R’s for Mekong cooperation’, Press Release, April 8, 2008. Mekong River Commission Secretariat (2001) MRC Hydropower Development Strategy, Phnom Penh: MRCS. Mekong River Commission (November 2008) Stakeholder Participation and Communication Plan for Basin Development Planning in the Lower Mekong Basin, Draft 2, November 2008. Mekong River Commission (2007) The Basin Development Plan Programme Phase (BDP 2), 2007-2010 – also see Executive Summary in Appendix 2. Mekong River Commission (2005) ‘Development of water resources the key to defeating poverty in the Lower Mekong Basin’, Mekong News, Vientiane, Lao PDR. Mekong River Commission (2003) State of the Basin Report, MRC Document Mekong River Commission (2003) ‘Guidelines on Implementation of the Procedures for Water Use Monitoring’, Sections 1-4. Mekong River Commission (2002) Mekong River Commission Statement on Issues Relating to Yali Falls Dam and Se San Hydropower Plant Project, 26 November, 2002. Mekong River Commission (2000) Fact Finding Mission to Ratanakiri Province on the Downstream Impacts of the Yali Falls, 16 March 2000. Mekong River Commission (1999) Public Participation in the Context of the Lower Mekong Basin, MRC Document Mekong River Commission (1997) State of the Environment Report, MRC Document Mekong River Commission (MRC) (1995) Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin, April 1995, Bangkok: MRC. Can also be found at: http://www.mrcmekong.org/agreement_95/agreement_95.htm Mekong Watch (2007) Report of the Community-Based Environmental Studies in Northeastern Cambodia and in the Northern Thailand, Survey Project for McREM, Tokyo, Japan, February 2007 (available at: http://www.mekongwatch.org). Mekong Update & Dialogue, produced by the Australian Mekong Resource Centre (AMRC), various issues. 282 Menzies, Charles R. (2006): Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Natural Resource Management, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London Middleton, C. (2008) ‘Perspectives: A healthy Mekong river is priceless’, News Mekong, December, 2008 (available at: http://www.newsmekong.org/a_healthy_mekong_river_is_priceless) Molle, F, Foran, T, and Käkönen (editors) (2009) Contested Waterscapes in the Mekong Region. Hydropower, Livelihoods and Governance, London: Earthscan Mouhout, H. (2000): Travels in Siam, Cambodia, Laos and Annam, Bangkok: White Lotus. Nette, A. (2008) ‘Mekong Commission fends off credibility charges’, InterPress Service News Agency, May 11, 2008. New York Times 22 July 1893 (Archives) see: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?_r=1&res=9D02EFDB103BEF33A25751C2A9619C94629ED7CF Nguyen Phuong Binh (2006) ‘Geopolitics and development cooperation in the Mekong region’, in Maria Serena I. Diokno and Nguyen Van Chinh (editors) The Mekong Arranged and Rearranged, Chiang Mai: Mekong Press, 65-88. Oejendal, J. (2000) Sharing the Good, Gothenburg University. Oejendal, J. (2001) Addressing Anarchy – Decentralisation and Natural Resource Management in Ratanakiri Province, Upland Cambodia, Stockholm: Stockholm Environment Institute.(with Malin Hasselskog, Mona Lilja, Sith Samath & Pia Wallgren) Oejendal, J., Vikron, M. and Mak Sithirith (2002) Environmental Governance in the Mekong: Hydropower Site Selection Processes in the Se San and Sre Pok Basins, Stockholm: Stockholm Environment Institute. Osborne, M. (2004) River at Risk. The Mekong and the Water Politics of China and Southeast Asia, Lowry Institute Paper 02, Lowry Institute for International Policy. Osborne, M. (2001) The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future, Crows Nest, Australia: Allen & Unwin. Osborne, M. (2009) The Mekong: river under threat, Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney, Australia Oxfam America (2003) ‘Se San Protection Network celebrates a year of progress’ (available at: 283 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/news_updates/archive2003/art5265.h tml) Peluso, N.L. (2005) ‘From common property resources to territorializations’, in Peter Cuasay and Chayan Vaddhanaphuti (editors) Commonplaces and Comparisons. Remaking Eco-political Spaces in Southeast Asia, Chiang Mai: Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiang Mai University, 1-11. Pepper, K.T. (2002) ‘Tragedy on the Se San River’, Oxfam America (Available at: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatwedo/where_we_work/east_asia/news_publications/a rt2632.html) Perkins Cole (2011) Legal Opinion: Re: PNPCA Process for Xayaburi Dam, Letter dated July, 2011, Perkins Cole, Portland, Or, USA [made public through International Rivers] Phnom Penh Post (2003) ‘Yali Falls: Cambodia appeals to Vietnam’, Phnom Penh, 21 November 2003, 1. Phuc, T.X. (2008) Does Forest Devolution Benefit the Upland Poor? An Ethnography of Forest Access and Control in Vietnam, Chiang Mai: Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), March 2008. Phuc, T.X. (2007) Property Making in the Vietnamese Uplands: Ethnography of Conflicts in Three Dao Villages, Unpublished PhD thesis, Humboldt University, Berlin. Pomonti, J.C. (1971) Des Coutisans aux Partisans: Essai sur la Crisie Camboidgienne, Paris: Gallimard. Poulsen, A.F., Poeu, O., Viravong, S., Suntornratana, U., and Tung, N.T. (2002) ‘Fish migrations of the Lower Mekong Basin: Implications for development, planning and environmental management’, MRC Technical Paper, 8, Phnom Penh: MRC, October 2002. Prescott, J.R.V. (1987) Political Frontiers and Boundaries, London: Allen & Unwin. Probe International and NGO Forum (2008) Alleviating Dam Impacts Along the Transboundary Se San River in Northeast Cambodia, Phnom Penh: NGO Forum, February 2008. Quang, N.N. (2002) ‘Vietnam and the sustainable development of the Mekong river basin’, Water, Science and Technology, 45, 11: 261-266. Quinn, B. and Dapice, D. (2000) ‘Overinvesting in power: The costs of excess capacity’ 284 Ratanakiri Se San Communities (2002) Joint Statement from Ethnic Minority Groups Living Along the Se San River in Ratanakiri, Ratanakiri: Se San Protection Network. Ratner, B.D. (2000) ‘Watershed Governance: Livelihoods and Resource Competition in the Mountains of Mainland Southeast Asia’, Washington DC, WRI see also: http://pdf.wri.org/repsi_watershedgov.pdf Ratner, B.D. (2003) ‘The politics of regional governance in the Mekong river basin’, Global Change, 15, 1: 59-76. Rigg, J. (2007) An Everyday Geography of the Global South, London: Routledge. Rigg, J. (1997) Southeast Asia: The Human Landscapes of Modernization and Development, London: Routledge, second edition. Rivers Coalition in Cambodia (March 2008) Letter to H.E. Lim Kean Hor, Minister of Water Management and Meteorology, Phnom Penh: NGO Forum. Rivers Coalition in Cambodia (24 September 2008) Statement Questioning the MRC’s “Sustainable Hydropower Development”, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Roberts, T.R. (2001) ‘On the river of no returns: Thailand’s Pak Mun Dam and its fish ladder’, Natural History Bulletin of Siam Society, 49: 189-230. Roberts, T.R. (2001) Downstream ecological implications of China’s Lancang hydropower and Mekong navigation project, International Rivers Network. Rothert, S. (1995) ‘Lessons unlearned: damming the Mekong River’ International Rivers Network Paper 6, Berkeley: International Rivers Network. Routledge, P. (2008) ‘Acting in the network’, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 26, 2: 199-217. Routledge, P. (2003) ‘Within the river: Collaboration and methodology’, Geographical Review, 91, 1/2,: 113-120. Routledge, P. (1996) ‘Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance’, Political Geography, 15: 509-531. Ryder, G. (2005) ‘Negotiating riparian recovery applying BC Hydro water use planning experience in the transboundary Se San river basin’, Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Management, Bangkok: Thailand. Ryder, G. (2004) ‘Managing river conflict: A Canadian model’, Phnom Penh Post, 15 January, 2004. 285 Ryder, G. and Imhof, A. (2004) Letter to Jeffrey Gutman, World Bank, Re: The World Bank and Electricity of Vietnam Corporation’s Se San hydro development, March 12, 2004. 3S Rivers Protection Network (3SPN) (2011) Living Rivers, January-June 2011 3SPN (August 2007) Local News Update, S Rivers Protection Network, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. 3SPN (February 2007) ‘Sharing the Srepok River: Cambodian communities downstream of Vietnam Dams finally get a hearing’, 3S Working Group, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia, February 2007. 3SPN (October 2006) Local News Update, S Rivers Protection Network, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. Schouten, R., Visounnarath, B., Souvannalath, and Volakummane, K. (2004) Evaluation of Environmental and Social Impacts by Theun-Hinboun Hydropower Plant on Aquatic Life and Fisheries, Unpublished report for Theun-Hinboun Power Company Limited, Vientienne, September 2004. Schouten, R. (1998) ‘Effects of dams on downstream reservoir fisheries. Case of Nam Ngum’, Mekong Fish Catch and Culture, Mekong Fisheries Network Newsletter, Bangkok: Mekong River Commission, 4, 2: 5. Scott, J.C. (1998) Seeing Like A State. How Certain Schemes To Improve the Human Condition Have Failed, New Haven: Yale University Press. Sivaramakrishnan, K. (2005) ‘Social power, contested belonging, and the local government of commons’, in Peter Cuasay and Chayan Vaddhanaphuti (editors) Commonplaces and Comparisons. Remaking Eco-political spaces in Southeast Asia, Chiang Mai: Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiang Mai University: 255-59. Silvano, R.A.M., Silva, A.L., Ceroni, M., and Begossi, A. (2008) ‘Contributions of ethnobotany to the conservation of tropical rivers and streams’, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 18: 241-260. Sluiter, L. (1992) The Mekong Currency, Bangkok: Project for Ecological Recovery. Sneddon, C and Fox, C (2006) ‘Rethinking transboundary waters: A critical hydropolitics of the Mekong basin’, Political Geography, 25: 181-202 286 Sneddon, C. and Fox, C. (2006) ‘Rethinking transboundary waters: A critical hydropolitics of the Mekong basin’, Political Geography, 25: 181-202. Sneddon, C. (2003) ‘Reconfiguring scale and power: The Khong-Chi-Mun project in northeast Thailand’, Environment and Planning A, 35: 725-742. Stevens, S. (2001) ‘Fieldwork as Commitment’, Geographical Review 91 (1-2): 66-73 Sowerwine, J. (2004) ‘Territorialisation and the politics of highland landscapes in Vietnam: negotiating property relations in policy, meaning and practice’, Conservation and Society (1) (2004), pp. 97–136. Springer, S. (2008) ‘Violence, democracy, and the neoliberal “order”: The contestation of public space in post-national Cambodia’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 98, 4: 1-25. Stensholt, B. (1996) (ed) Development dilemmas in the Mekong Subregion, Clayton: Monash Asia Institute. Straub, A. (2001) Institutions, Livelihoods, and the Environment: Change and Response in Mainland Southeast Asia, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. Taylor, P.J. and Flint, C. (2000, 4th edition) Political Geography. World-Economy, Nation-State and Locality, Harlow, UK: Pearson and Prentice Hall. TERRA (2008a) ‘MRC’s looming crisis of legitimacy and relevancy challenges new CEO’, Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance, Bangkok, Press Release, March 27, 2008. TERRA (2008b) ‘Requests from Mekong civil society to the new MRC CEO’. Copy of Letter signed by Mekong-based civil society groups and individuals dated March 27, 2008. TERRA (2007) ‘MRC silent as mainstream dams move forward’, Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance, Bangkok, Press Release, November 8, 2007. TERRA (2000) ‘Proposed dams on the Se San River’, Bangkok: TERRA, April 2000. TERRA (1999) ‘Asian Development Bank dam plans threaten Mekong fisheries’, Watershed, 5,1, July-October 1999, Bangkok: TERRA. Till, K.E. (2001) ‘Returning home and to the field’, Geographical Review, 91(1-2): 4656, 2001. 287 Toda, O., Tanji, H., Somura, H., Higuchi, K., Yoshida, K. (2003) ‘Evaluation of tributaries contribution in the Mekong River Basin during rainy and dry seasons’, National Institute for Rural Engineering, River and Coast Laboratory, Ibaraki, Japan. Try Thuon and Tek Vannara (2005) ‘Making space for fisheries access and community management in Stung Treng, Cambodia’, in Peter Cuasay and Chayan Vaddhanaphuti (editors) Commonplaces and Comparisons. Remaking Eco-political spaces in Southeast Asia, Chiang Mai: Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiang Mai University: 219- 254. Underdal, A. (2002) ‘One question, two answers’, in Edward L. Miles, Arilid Underdal, Steinar Andresen, Jørgen Wettestad, Jon Birger Skjærseth and Elaine M. Carlin (editors) Environmental Regime Effectiveness: Confronting Theory with Evidence, Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. UNESCO World Heritage List for Preah Vihear Temple see: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1224 United Nations Commission for Asia and The Far East – ECAFE (1957): Development of Water Resources in the Lower Mekong Basin Vandergeest, P. (1996) ‘Mapping nature: Territorialization of forest rights in Thailand’, Society and Natural Resources, 9: 169-175. Vandergeest, P. and Peluso, N. (1995) ‘Territorialization and state power in Thailand’, Theory and Society, 24: 385-426. Van Tuyll, C. (2003) Watershed Management – Issues for Discussion, MRC-GTZ, April Watershed (2000) ‘Cooperation for sustainable development: Death, disaster and the Yali Falls Dam’, interview with MRC Secretariat CEO, Joern Kristensen, Watershed, 6, 1: 10-13. Watershed (1995) ‘Mekong politics: “New era”, same old politics’, Watershed, 1, 1: July 1995, Bangkok: TERRA. Viet Nam Business News, various reports. Viet Nam News Agency (2001) ‘Se San hydro plant set for construction’, 13 July 2001, Hanoi: Viet Nam. White, Gilbert F. (1962) Economic and Social Aspects of the Lower Mekong Development, Bangkok: Mekong Committee. 288 White, R. (1995) The organic machine: The remaking of the Columbia river, New York: Hill and Wang. Winichakul, Thongchai (1995) Siam Mapped. A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation, Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books. Woods, K. (2005) ‘Transboundary environmental governance in the Greater Mekong Subregion: The politics of participation’, Watershed, 10, 2, November 2004 – June 2005, 10-23. World Rivers Review (2001), Vol 16. No. 3, page 6, also see: http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/WRR.V16.N3.pdf Worley (2001) Phase II Final Report – Environmental, Social and Technical Analysis for Se San Hydropower Project, Summary Environmental Impact Assessment, Asian Development Bank, Viet Nam, TA 3222-VIE, Manila, February 2001. Worley (2000) Se San Hydropower Project, Draft Yali/Se San Environmental and Social Impact Analysis Study, vol. and 2, Asian Development Bank PPTA 31362-01VIE, Manila, April 2000. Wyatt, A. and Baird, I. (2007) ‘Transboundary impact assessment in the Sesan river basin: The case of the Yali Falls Dam’, International Journal of Water Resources Development, 23, 3: 427-442. Zimmerer, K. S., & Bassett, T. J. (2003). ‘Approaching Political Ecology: Society, Nature, and Scale in Human-Environment Studies;, in K. S. Zimmerer & T. J. Bassett (Eds.), Political Ecology. New York: The Guilford Press: 1-28. Zimmerer, K. (1996) Changing Fortunes: Biodiversity and Peasant Livelihood in the Peruvian Andes. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Xinhua News Agency (2001) ‘Viet Nam’s second largest hydro-electric power plant completed’, 12 December 2001, Hanoi: Viet Nam. 289 [...]... Vietnam and three for Cambodia Till the Asian Development Bank's involvement in the 1990s, the 1984 review was the "authoritative study" in use.3 Proposed Hydropower Schemes in Se San River Basin 4 Schemes proposed Mekong Secretariat (1970) Lower Se San no.1 Lower Se San 2 & Lower Sre Pok no 2 Lower Se San 3 Prek Liang no.1 Prek Liang no.2 Upper Se San 4 & Dak Hodrai Upper Se San 3 Yali Falls Plei Krong Dak... 2010) The study area of this thesis focuses on the trans- border tributary rivers of the Se San, Sre Pok and Se Kong Rather than focus my attention on the whole of the River Basin which is an enormous zone spanning the international boundaries of six countries I view the Se San, Sre Pok and Se Kong river basins as having many of the attributes of resource politics in the Mekong Basin as a whole First, the. .. affecting the Se San watershed 5 1.1.1 Figure Se San Watershed (with Sre Pok and Se Kong Rivers) (3 SPN) 6 The Se San watershed is in many respects the focus of this study (Figure 1.1.1), although the thematic focus on trans- boundary resource management’ and on the cultural politics of environmental resources should have wider intellectual and practical resonance The Se San River has two big tributaries, the. .. large-scale hydro dams in the Se San River cascade (Se San 3, Plei Krong, Se San 3A, and Se San 4) with installed capacity ranging from 100 MW to 720 MW on the upper Se San s upper reaches (Figure 1.1.3) 10 Figure 1.1.3 Location of hydropower projects in the Se San River Basin, 2004 (3 SPN) 11 Numerous researchers and local studies indicated serious changes, based on detailed local studies, to the hydrological... Cambodia The Se San joins the Sre Pok about 35 km upstream of Stung Treng town, and the Se Kong River about 5 km upstream of the same town These form the basis of a trans- border watershed zone across the Vietnam and Cambodia border, which is vitally connected with the broader Mekong Basin Scientific hydrological studies indicate the importance of tributaries during the dry and wet seasons to the Mekong. .. ones (see in maps 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 how these differ on the Mekong River) A river basin is interconnected through the flow of the river’s waters Thus the use of the waters in one part of the basin may affect the use in another part Water abstraction, waste discharges, flow regulation – all can have basin- wide impacts The boundaries that cut across or follow a river do not confine those impacts to the originating... environmental processes within the Mekong Basin as a whole Thus, the projects ‘one of the most important tributaries’ Se San River have impacts in the trans- border valley itself as well as broader implications for the Lower Mekong (Baird, 1995) 7 Hydropower development has a long history in the Mekong, although the actual implementation of many hydro-electric dam projects along the mainstream and tributaries... development instead of having to follow the interests of national governments, who might have lost the links to their local representatives if these have not been empowered and supported by their local communities 21 Chapter 2: Concepts and the Trans- border Mekong Basin 22 2 Concepts and the Trans- border Mekong Basin 2.1 Mekong River Basin and Trans- border Resource Politics This thesis is informed mainly by geographic... of transborder rivers and other environmental resources The MRC and trans- border water governance One of the key trans- border water governance institutions is clearly the Mekong River Commission (MRC) A significant part of my analysis is devoted to examining the work and response of the MRC in relation to trans- border problems, such as those highlighted in the Se San River Valley My analysis of the. .. in the Se San River can be traced back to the 1961 Mekong Reconnaissance Team study (TERRA, 2000) The Mekong Committee issued a 1970 Indicative Basin Plan with numerous hydropower plants proposed (see figure 1.1.2 below), including five in Cambodia and ten in Vietnam (Australian Mekong Resource Center, November 2002; Mekong Secretariat, 1971) However, the 1970s were turbulent years in the Lower Mekong, . use.3 Proposed Hydropower Schemes in Se San River Basin 4 Schemes proposed by Mekong Secretariat (1970) Schemes proposed by WATCO (1984) Lower Se San no.1 Not recommended Lower Se San. (Water Security Section) and the MRC Secretariat in Phnom Penh and they helped me define the contents of this thesis. 2 Being a microcosm of the Mekong Basin as such, the Se San River Basin. (MIS)MANAGING CONTESTED TRANS- BOUNDARY RESOURCES ALONG THE SE SAN RIVER, LOWER MEKONG BASIN UFFE RAUNSHOLT POULSEN (BSc International Trade,