Opening the gates of the Pak Mun dam: Fish migrations, domestic water supply, irrigation projects and politics
The Pak Mun Dam on the Mun River in Ubon Ratchathani Province in northeastern Thailand has long been one of the most controversial hydropower projects in Southeast Asia. The environmental and social impacts associated with blocking important fish migrations between the mainstream Mekong River and...
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Water Alternatives Association
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doaj-1967beb397a64f8cb8e69545b9dcbd252020-11-25T02:56:53ZengWater Alternatives AssociationWater Alternatives1965-01751965-01752020-02-01131141159Opening the gates of the Pak Mun dam: Fish migrations, domestic water supply, irrigation projects and politicsIan G. Baird0Kanokwan Manorom1Aurore Phenow2Sirasak Gaja-Svasti3University of Wisconsin-Madison Ubon Ratchathani University, ThailandUniversity of Wisconsin-MadisonUbon Ratchathani University, ThailandThe Pak Mun Dam on the Mun River in Ubon Ratchathani Province in northeastern Thailand has long been one of the most controversial hydropower projects in Southeast Asia. The environmental and social impacts associated with blocking important fish migrations between the mainstream Mekong River and the Mun River Basin are particularly well known. Fishers, non-governmental organisations and academics have advocated for opening the gates of the dam either year-round or at least for an extended period, and especially at the beginning of the rainy season when a large number of fish migrate upstream. Crucially, however, the damʼs gates are not always opened at the beginning of the rainy season as required by previous agreements. Water management issues associated with opening the Pak Mun Dam have become increasingly complex and fraught because of additional challenges relating to the construction of new infrastructure such as irrigation dams on tributaries, and because of an increasing demand for piped domestic water to supply urban dwellers in Ubon Ratchathani City. In this paper, we adopt a political ecology approach to examine the present economic, ecological and political circumstances associated with the management of the Pak Mun Dam, including the trade-offs associated with different possible management decisions.http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol13/v13issue1/568-a13-1-7/filehydropower damfish migrationinfrastructurefisheriespak munthailand |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Ian G. Baird Kanokwan Manorom Aurore Phenow Sirasak Gaja-Svasti |
spellingShingle |
Ian G. Baird Kanokwan Manorom Aurore Phenow Sirasak Gaja-Svasti Opening the gates of the Pak Mun dam: Fish migrations, domestic water supply, irrigation projects and politics Water Alternatives hydropower dam fish migration infrastructure fisheries pak mun thailand |
author_facet |
Ian G. Baird Kanokwan Manorom Aurore Phenow Sirasak Gaja-Svasti |
author_sort |
Ian G. Baird |
title |
Opening the gates of the Pak Mun dam: Fish migrations, domestic water supply, irrigation projects and politics |
title_short |
Opening the gates of the Pak Mun dam: Fish migrations, domestic water supply, irrigation projects and politics |
title_full |
Opening the gates of the Pak Mun dam: Fish migrations, domestic water supply, irrigation projects and politics |
title_fullStr |
Opening the gates of the Pak Mun dam: Fish migrations, domestic water supply, irrigation projects and politics |
title_full_unstemmed |
Opening the gates of the Pak Mun dam: Fish migrations, domestic water supply, irrigation projects and politics |
title_sort |
opening the gates of the pak mun dam: fish migrations, domestic water supply, irrigation projects and politics |
publisher |
Water Alternatives Association |
series |
Water Alternatives |
issn |
1965-0175 1965-0175 |
publishDate |
2020-02-01 |
description |
The Pak Mun Dam on the Mun River in Ubon Ratchathani Province in northeastern Thailand has long
been one of the most controversial hydropower projects in Southeast Asia. The environmental and social impacts
associated with blocking important fish migrations between the mainstream Mekong River and the Mun River Basin are particularly well known. Fishers, non-governmental organisations and academics have advocated for opening the gates of the dam either year-round or at least for an extended period, and especially at the beginning of the rainy season when a large number of fish migrate upstream. Crucially, however, the damʼs gates are not always opened at the beginning of the rainy season as required by previous agreements. Water management issues associated with opening the Pak Mun Dam have become increasingly complex and fraught because of additional challenges relating to the construction of new infrastructure such as irrigation dams on tributaries, and because of an increasing demand for piped domestic water to supply urban dwellers in Ubon Ratchathani City. In this paper, we adopt a political ecology approach to examine the present economic, ecological and political circumstances associated with the management of the Pak Mun Dam, including the trade-offs associated with different possible management decisions. |
topic |
hydropower dam fish migration infrastructure fisheries pak mun thailand |
url |
http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol13/v13issue1/568-a13-1-7/file |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT iangbaird openingthegatesofthepakmundamfishmigrationsdomesticwatersupplyirrigationprojectsandpolitics AT kanokwanmanorom openingthegatesofthepakmundamfishmigrationsdomesticwatersupplyirrigationprojectsandpolitics AT aurorephenow openingthegatesofthepakmundamfishmigrationsdomesticwatersupplyirrigationprojectsandpolitics AT sirasakgajasvasti openingthegatesofthepakmundamfishmigrationsdomesticwatersupplyirrigationprojectsandpolitics |
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