Stretching from the glaciated highlands of the Tibetan Plateau to the hot, humid lowlands of Vietnam, the Mekong River flows nearly 5,000 km through Southeast Asia. The 12th longest river in the world, the Mekong connects six different countries and drains nearly 800,000 square kilometers on its southernly march to the Indian Ocean. Majority of this discharge occurs during the South Asian Summer Monsoon season, when the banks of the river swell, turning agricultural fields into wetlands.
This flood-pulse dynamic drives the river’s great productivity. Seasonal water level fluctuations and inundated wetland habitats yield immense biodiversity, which is fundamental to the natural-resource based livelihoods of more than 60 million people living in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB). The LMB supports one of the world’s largest freshwater fisheries, boasting 4.4 million tons of fish harvested annually. The fishery provides between 50-80% of the animal protein for the region, while also supporting the livelihoods of nearly two-thirds of the basin’s population. Along the mighty Mekong’s banks, farmers produce enough rice to feed 300 million people per year, with each country in the LMB striving to be a net rice exporter.
Today, the Mekong River and its watershed are facing unprecedented changes from rapid population growth, land cover conversion, hydropower development, resource extraction, and climate change. This uncertain future threatens the livelihoods of those living in the basin, those dependent on the fish, crops, and water supplied by the Mekong. How the people of this region address these challenges is going to depend on developing innovative policies for sustainability, which, to be effective, must be informed by sound science.
Since the early 2000’s, faculty, students, and staff from the University of Washington (UW) have partnered with local scientists to conduct multidisciplinary environmental research in the LMB. This has led to a much better understanding of river hydrology, carbon cycling, and ecosystem production. For more information about UW Mekong River Basin research, we invite you to explore our projects and notable research products.