| Abstract |
The Upper Mekong Navigation Improvement Project, funded by the Chinese government, is part of a grand scheme to allow large ships to freely navigate from Simao, China to Luang Prabang in Laos. The first stage of the project would destroy 11 major rapids and 10 scattered reefs along a 331-kilometer section of the Mekong from the China-Burma border to Ban Houayxai in Laos. Two rapids have already been blasted along the Lao-Burma border. The second and third stages would involve further channelization of the river. This paper focuses on the impacts of the first stage of the project. |
