Water users urged to prepare for drought conditions          

The already exceptionally low level of the Mekong and some of its tributaries is expected to become lower still as October is just the start of the dry season, according to a senior official in charge of river flow monitoring.
“The rainy season has come to an end so from now on the water level in the Mekong and some of its tributaries will continue to fall,” Deputy Director

General of the Meterology and Hydrology Department, Ms Outhone Phetluangsy, told Vientiane Times on Thursday.
Ms Outhone made the comment as the water level in the Mekong and its tributaries in Laos is at a record low. This unusual situation is now affecting household water supply as well as business activities and agriculture.
This is an indication that consumers should be prepared to cope with water shortages.
The Vientiane Water Supply Enterprise announced earlier this week that the distribution of water in some parts of Vientiane would be insufficient because its pumps in the Nam Ngum are now floating above the river. 
Ms Outhone said that although the department was aware of the unusual drop in the level of the Mekong and its tributaries, it did not have the authority to announce that the country was suffering a drought.
“Our role is only to monitor and report on water flow so we cannot say whether the country will suffer a historic drought. It is the role of the government and other relevant sectors to announce whether there will be a drought in Laos,” she said.
When asked about the cause of the unusual drop in river levels, Ms Outhone said it was the result of unusually low rainfall.
“If the amount of rainfall this year was the same as in previous years, we would not be experiencing such unusually low water levels,” she said, adding that dams in Laos could not be blamed for any drought.
Lao dams on the Mekong are based on scientific studies and are well designed so they don’t store a large volume of water and affect normal river flows, she said.  
Ms Outhone said that based on the data collected by the department in recent years, rainfall this year was at a historic low, especially in the north of the country.
A report issued by the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology in July indicated that rainfall in that month was 70 percent less than average.
An updated report was not immediately available to the media. But observers say that most of Laos except for central and southern areas experienced record-low rainfall over the past rainy season.
Ms Outhone said that El Nino, a regularly occurring global phenomenon that causes unpredictable weather extremes, was a contributing factor to low rainfall in Laos and the Mekong region.
The international community in Laos is aware of the impact of the climate change that is occurring in Laos.
The government has established a climate change fund, hoping to raise money to strengthen Laos’ capacity to accommodate changing weather patterns.

By Ekaphone Phouthonesy
(Latest Update October 25, 2019)