Modified Transboundary Water Interaction Nexus (TWINS): Xayaburi Dam Case Study

Richard Grünwald,Yan Feng,Wenling Wang

doi:10.3390/w12030710

Richard Grünwald, Yan Feng + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/w12030710

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Abstract

The Mekong River comprises six riparian states and supports the livelihood of more than 65 million people. Although the rapid joint river development enlarges the pie of benefits, it also deepens existing conflict of interests and motivating downstream countries to use more power to get better control over shared waters. The purpose of the article is to operationalize a new Transboundary Water Interaction Nexus (TWINS) and interpret interchange of cooperation and conflict between Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam about the Xayaburi hydropower dam in the last 19 years (2000–2019). Our results show that (1) there is significant disparity between the official and public attitude towards the Xayaburi dam, (2) since 2013, the debates about the Xayaburi dam issue has been substituted by other mainstream hydropower dams, (3) the Xayaburi dam indicates that hydropower dams are one of the national priorities that will be pursued at all cost, (4) Laos gained confidence and significant political leverage on downstream countries since the groundbreaking ceremony of the Xayaburi dam in November 2012, (5) failure of the Mekong River Commission’s Procedure of Notification and Prior Consultations (PNPCA) with the Xayauri dam motivated downstream countries to redesign the institutional arrangements and stakeholder consultations.

Highlights

The Xayaburi dam is historically the first hydropower dam in the Lower Mekong River Basin that formally underwent the Procedure of Notification and Prior Consultations (PNPCA)
This study presents the first application of the re-conceptualized Transboundary Water Interaction Nexus (TWINS) Framework and explores in detail the evolution of interstate relations between Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam over the Xayaburi dam
The presented paper demonstrated the evolution of interstate relations between Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam between 2000 to 2019, and showed current dilemmas over the Xayaburi dam

Summary

Introduction

The Xayaburi dam is historically the first hydropower dam in the Lower Mekong River Basin that formally underwent the Procedure of Notification and Prior Consultations (PNPCA). Since April 2011, when the PNPCA with the Xayaburi formally ended, and November 2012, when Laos unilaterally continued construction of the Xayaburi dam, there has been the question of how this issue influences the dynamics of transboundary water interaction in the Mekong River Basin. Despite that riparian states faced many territorial disputes and civil conflicts during the Cold War era, the transboundary water cooperation in the Mekong River Basin has historically been considered as one of the most successful and long-lasting peaceful cooperation of all time [1]. The Mekong River Basin provides significant hydropower potential, which may satisfy

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