Whose River Is It? | God's World News
Whose River Is It?
Take Apart SMART!
Posted: July 05, 2016

Meet the mighty Mekong River. It is the twelfth-longest river in the world. It flows from China through the other Mekong countries: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Dolphins and fish swim in its waters. Millions of people rely on the river for their livings. But right now, those people have a serious problem. They don’t know how to share the river.

Owners of several companies had an idea. “Let’s build 11 more dams on the river,” they said. “We can use the power of the water to make electricity.” That’s a great idea—for people who live near the top of the river.

But for people downriver, it’s no good at all. Water experts from Denmark studied the dam idea for two and a half years. Their study sends a clear message: “STOP!” These dams would hurt the lower Mekong countries and the creatures living in the river. Imagine what it would be like if your family suddenly had only half the amount of money you have now. That would probably happen to the people living in fishing and farming villages.

Some dams have already been built at the top of the Mekong River. That means people downriver get less water than they used to. Officials in Vietnam say those dams are making the drought in Southeast Asia even worse. Farmers are already suffering. Some cannot grow rice anymore. They try farming cattle instead. For some of them, their taps run water for only an hour every day. They borrow money to feed their families.

Not every Mekong country disagrees with China about the dams. Laos wants the dams built too. Can you guess why? Yep—Laos is upstream!

Do you know who really owns the Mekong River? God does. He cares what happens to everyone who lives on it—the Chinese at the top of the river, and the Vietnamese way at the bottom. Will the people find a way the river can benefit everyone?