MRC Water Utilization Program - GEF-financed support is due to be completed in late 2006. Progress to date demonstrates the continued commitment of the member states to the 1995 Agreement.
Highlight overall basin location with respect to lower Mekong Basin states:
Annual flow of 475 billion m3: the Mekong River ranks as the eighth largest river in the world.
For comparison, in terms of annual flow, the Mekong River is larger than the Columbia River but smaller than the Mississippi River.The Mekong Basin experiences a tropical monsoon climate that produces pronounced wet and dry seasons with relatively warm weather year-round.
During the wet months of August and September, peak flows in the Mekong River can be as high as 50,000 m3/s
During the dry months of April and May, the flow into the Mekong Delta is reduced to around 2,250 m3/s
During the wet season, torrential rains result in large-scale flooding along the entire reach of the Mekong River, with extensive over-bank flows in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Because of the warm weather, there is no snowpack (except in the extreme north in China) to help store the precipitation
Every year, floods in the Mekong Basin kill dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people and cause extensive damage to crops and structures