ABSTRACT
The Mekong region fans out from the folds of the eastern Himalayas that give birth to its main arteries, including, from west to east, the Irrawaddy, the Nu-Salween, the Chao Phraya, the Lancang/Mekong and the Red rivers (see Figure 1.1). These rivers have constituted defining features of Southeast Asian cultures, religions, ways of life and substantive economies. Winding through deep gorges in their upper reaches, the region’s rivers, together with their tributaries, have lent themselves to the construction of dams and hydropower generation plants. Entering large plains and ending in wide deltas, they have been diverted to support large-scale irrigation, while all along their course, they have long provided fish and other aquatic products to local dwellers, as well as means of transportation. In upper catchments, their tributaries have, for centuries, been tapped by highlanders for small-scale irrigation and other domestic uses. The main river basins of the Mekong region https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781849770866/4a77179a-98ec-4d92-8002-81d6367254cf/content/fig1_1_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Source: adapted from Kummu (2008)
