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2-4. Cross-Border Environmental Issues: The Sesan,Srepok, and Sekong (3S) Rivers Dam Developments
Overview of the Sesan, Srepok, and Sekong Rivers
The Sesan, Srepok, and Sekong Rivers(collectively known as the 3S Rivers) comprisethe largest water system made of Mekong Rivertributaries. The 3S are all international rivers
that flow into northeastern Cambodia from theirsources in the plateaus of central Vietnam andthe Phu Luang mountain range in Laos. The
downstream region is made up of Cambodia’s
northeastern provinces of Ratanakiri, Steung
Treng, and Mondulkiri, where many indigenousand ethnic peoples live with differing livelihoods,languages and cultures. There are approximately
70,000 people living along the three rivers
in some 127 villages, and their livelihoods
depend on natural river resources. This regionis also known for its rich natural resources andbiodiversity, and about 40% of Cambodia’s
natural forests are in Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri Map: 3S River basin
Provinces. The natural resources of the 3S river
basin are very important, not just from the perspective of environmental conservation, but for ensuring
food security and livelihood for people living in the region who depend on natural resources.

Transboundary Hydropower Dam Impacts
Because the three rivers are international waterways, upstream development is having a large
impact on nature and people in Cambodia. In 1993, construction of the Yali Falls Dam in Vietnam
began as the first hydropower dam project in the Sesan River Basin, at a point just 80 km within theCambodia-Vietnam border. In October 1996, there was floodingof Cambodian villages, the cause of which is attributed to abroken water diversion dam when the Yali Falls Dam was underconstruction. Since then, discharge of water from the Yali Falls
Dam itself impacts people with frequent and unpredictablefloods, deterioration of river water quality, decrease in fish catch,erosion of riverbanks, and impacts on riverbank farming. People
who use the river for daily life and drinking water are suffering
severe health impacts as well. According to an NGO survey Hospital inundated by flooding of theconducted in 2000, 32 villagers drowned in floods over a four Srepok River (2009).
year period (Fisheries office and NTFP 2000). Since 2003, there
has been increasing dam construction on the upstream Srepok River, and just as with the Sesan River,similar impacts are being seen downstream in Cambodia.

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People living in Cambodia have continued to voice their concerns related to the dams’ impacts to theirown government, to the Mekong River Commission (MRC), and to national and international aid
agencies financing the dams, but development in Vietnam and Laos continues without considerationfor what occurs downstream in Cambodia, and affected people in the river basins who are facing great
difficulties are being neglected.

Insufficient Environmental Impact Assessment
In spite of unresolved issues of mitigation and compensation around the Yali Falls Dam, there aremany dam projects planned for the 3S region. One way of predicting, preventing, mitigating andmanaging the negative impacts of large-scale infrastructure projects such as dams is to carry out an
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), but the EIAs for these dams have been insufficient, andsome construction is in progress even without an EIA.
The area examined in the EIA for the Yali Falls Dam covered only resettlement and electricity
generation upstream of the dam, and a 6 km range downstream. While it would have been possible topredict the damages to water quantity, water quality, fishing and aquatic life, it was determined thatthe social and environmental impacts some 10s of kilometers downstream in Cambodia would beminimal, and no survey was conducted.
The Sesan 3 Dam was constructed about 15 km downstream of the Yali Falls Dam, and its EIAwas conducted with technical support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The report wascompleted in 2000 but was not disclosed. In 2003, the EIA report was leaked, so its content became
known. In the process of conducting the EIA, no surveys were done in Cambodia, but the EIA
cited reports on the Yali Falls dam and other surveys, saying that the impacts of the Sesan 3 Dam
construction on Cambodia would be “extensively destructive,” and criticized the project for looking
too lightly upon the impacts downstream. In spite of this, the construction of the Sesan 3 Dam went on
without any mitigation or compensation measures for Cambodia.
Also, from 2005-2006, an environmental survey on how dam construction on the Sesan and Srepok
Rivers impact the environment downstream in Cambodia was conducted. While there are problems
with the surveys, such as impartiality, the post factum EIAs for the Srepok and Sesan Rivers in 2006
and 2007 respectively, recognized the claims being raised by villagers, and pointed out that future dam
construction would lead to additional negative impacts. Also at the post factum EIA hearing in January
2007, a promise was made to build regulatory dams on both rivers to adjust the flow when water isreleased from dams upstream. As of 2012, however, those dams are being promoted as hydropowerprojects, so the promise of mitigation measures made to Cambodian villagers in the post factum EIA
are not being implemented.

Grassroots Efforts
In 2000, NGOs active in Ratanakiri Province led efforts to begin surveying the abnormalities of theSesan River and the damages suffered by people living nearby. Domestic and international NGOs
also formed a loose network called the Sesan Working Group to monitor the situation in the basin. InFebruary 2000, the Working Group surveyed all of the approximately (at the time) 90 villages locatedalong the Sesan River in Cambodia. The Working Group wrote a report of the overall situation andproblems facing the Sesan River.
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After this report was released, MRC started an investigation in Ratanakiri Province in March the sameyear. It also heard reports from the Cambodian and Vietnamese governments about transboundary
flood problems. As a result, the investigative team was able to confirm that there were indeed
unnatural changes in water levels, and it was recognized at the government level that the discharge ofwater from the Yali Falls Dam was creating floods across the border.
Since then, the Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Committee for the Management of the Sesan River(which now also discusses management of the Srepok River) was established as a place for the twogovernments to negotiate. The Cambodian and Vietnamese governments also established a 5-point“solution” to prevent downstream damage from water discharged by the Yali Falls Dam. The jointcommittee, however, is largely controlled by the Vietnamese government, and participation by
Cambodian affected people and NGOs is not allowed. The promised advance notification of water
discharge is also actually being sent first to the MRC office in Vietnam, which then notifies the MRC
in Cambodia, and the notification is thereafter relayed from the central government, to the province,
the district, then the commune, and finally the village, so it is very rare for notification of the flood toreach villagers before the flood itself does. In reality, it is not working as a solution.
Even by 2001 the situation had not been resolved, so villagers
along the Sesan River organized together to form the “Sesan
Protection Network” (SPN) in order to more effectively notify
the outside world of their concerns and their plight (The Sesan
Working Group dissolved upon establishment of SPN). After
that, people living not only along the Sesan, but also along
the Srepok and Sekong Rivers began participating in SPN,
and in 2005, it formed as an NGO of organized villagers in
the region and they called themselves “Sesan-Srepok-Sekong Protests by villagers against the damconstruction.
Rivers Protection Network” (3SPN).
Even after becoming 3SPN, the villagers’ demands are still consistent. Their core demands arethat the rivers’ natural flow be restored, that no more dams be built without consent of villagers,
and that compensation be made to villagers who suffered damage to their livelihood, crops, andlivestock. Villagers have expanded their network, and have continued making their demands andconcerns known to various other stakeholders. At the Northeast Cambodia Fishers Forum in 2005,
approximately 180 fishers from Cambodia, Thailand and Laos gathered, in addition to officials fromthe Cambodian central and local governments, domestic and international NGOs. At this forum, it
was reconfirmed that dam construction was a threat to the culture, agriculture and fishing of people
who depend on the river and its ecosystem, and discussions were held about the challenges and efforts
needed to protect them. The 3SPN villagers send a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen demanding
solutions to the problems, and a demand for the disclosure of the post factum EIA on the Sesan andSrepok was sent to Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and the Vietnam National Mekong Committee. They
also made it into the public hearing on the Srepok post factum EIA, and made an appeal before
the approximately 150 participants, who were representatives of the ministries of the Vietnameseand Cambodian governments, governors, villagers, and NGOs. They raised their concerns about
the impacts of dam construction on the Srepok River, called for the temporary halt in construction,and demanded compensation. They also demanded an end to funding of EIAs that presume dam<2-4>3<Nature and Our Future: The Mekong Basin and Japan>

construction and/or reject local participation.
Also, to collect evidence to back up their concerns and opinions, they did an impact survey, and arethus strengthening their own knowledge base. They are also getting on to radio programs to explain
their situations, holding demonstrations against dam construction, and thus making their concerns
about development projects known to a broader audience.

To Address Cross-Border Environmental Issues
It appears that the villagers’ activities are leading to a widening recognition of the transboundary
impacts of development. Still, in spite of continuously raising their concerns, the villagers have yetto be compensated for damages from the Yali Falls Dam and mitigation measures have not beenimplemented. And dam construction on the 3S Rivers continues.
In order to mitigate transboundary environmental impacts, the following improvements need to bemade:1) Governance of the two committees working for the joint management of the Mekong River—namely the MRC and the Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Committee for the Management of theSesan River—must be strengthened;
2) Affected people in downstream Cambodia must be allowed to participate in decision making
for development projects;
3) Especially in terms of local participation, all people who are involved in dam developmentof the 3S Rivers must recognize downstream affected people in Cambodia as projectstakeholders, provide information and hold consultations prior to final decisions to implement
projects, and listen to opinions of affected people when taking the environment intoconsideration;4) Aid agencies and other funders should not finance projects for which local participation,accountability, and appropriate social and environmental consideration cannot be confirmed;
5) The need to include transboundary issues into EIAs is clear from surveys and reports done todate, and EIAs should be disclosed to all stakeholders in languages they understand; and6) Affected people downstream in Cambodia must be compensated for the cumulativeenvironmental impacts of existing dams and those currently under construction. They havebeen raising their concerns for years.
References
3S Rivers Protection Network (3SPN). Community Demands.
http://www.3spn.org/about-3s-region/community-demands/ (Last accessed on October 24, 2012)
Fisheries Office and Non-Timber Forest Products Project (NTFP). 2000.
A Study of Downstream Impacts of the Yali Falls Dam in the Sesan River Basin in Ratanakiri Province, Northeast Cambodia.
Ratanakiri, Cambodia: Cambodia Fisheries Office.
Halcrow and Partners. 1999. Sekong-Se San and Nam Theun River Basins Hydropower Development Study, Final Report.
Manila, the Philippines: Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Sugita Rena. 2008. Voices from the Waters: Villagers’ Lives and Livelihoods Threatened by Hydropower Development.
Tokyo, Japan: Mekong Watch (in Japanese)
http://www.mekongwatch.org/PDF/watervoice_full.pdf
SWECO, Groner. 2006a. Environmental Impact Assessment on the Cambodian Part of the Sesan River due to Hydropower Developmentin Vietnam. Hanoi, Vietnam: EVN.
SWECO, Groner. 2006b. Environmental Impact Assessment on the Cambodian Side of the Srepok River due to Hydropower
Development in Vietnam. Hanoi, Vietnam: EVN.

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