In 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton joined with the Foreign 

Ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam in launching the Lower 

Mekong Initiative to enhance U.S. engagement with the Lower Mekong countries 

in the areas of environment, health, education, and infrastructure. Part of the 

Lower Mekong Initiative, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Forecast Mekong project 

is engaging the United States in scientific research relevant to environmental 

issues in the Lower Mekong River countries and is staying the course in support 

of the Mekong Nations with a suite of new projects for 2011.

The USGS is continuing to support local research efforts by conducting 

scientific training, working collaboratively with scientists in Southeast Asia, and 

building a geospatial database for the Mekong Basin. The USGS project team is 

also developing a graphic visualization tool (GVT) and sharing lessons learned on 

the long-term effects of multipurpose dams and river engineering projects in the 

Mississippi River Basin, which can inform water-resource managers and decision 

makers in other major river deltas, such as the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

The project provides a forum for regional partners, scientists, and engineers 

in the Lower Mekong River countries to share data and support local research 

efforts and elevate knowledge about the vital importance of the Mekong River and 

Delta in maintaining food security and livelihoods in Southeast Asia. Ultimately, 

Forecast Mekong will lead to more informed decisions on how to make the 

Mekong and Mississippi Deltas resilient and sustainable in the face of climate 

change, economic stresses, population growth, and other impacts. 

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Forecast Mekong: 2011 Update

General Information Product 130
Continued Success

As Forecast Mekong continues to blossom, activities focus on the 

following cooperative efforts:

• Building Scientific Capacity 

• Visualizing Data 

• Transferring Knowledge 

• Sharing Data

Suggested citation:

Turnipseed, D.P., 2011, Forecast Mekong: 2011 update: U.S. Geological Survey General Information Product 130, 8 p.
Building Scientific Capacity

USGS is providing the following technical expertise: 

• technical support for a study of pollutants led by scientists 

from the International Crane Foundation and the University 

Network for Wetland Research in the Mekong Region, 

• a senior-level groundwater hydrogeologist on a special 

detail to the Mekong River Commission to advise on 

groundwater issues, 

• a geospatial scientist to be assigned to Can Tho University 

on a special detail for training and technical assistance, 

• a hydrologist to teach one course on sediment transport 

and another on sediment sampling and lab analysis for the 

Mekong River Commission, 

• geospatial scientists to lead a remote sensing workshop 

specifically for mapping landcover with radar data at Can 

Tho University, 

• assistance with project development on fisheries research 

and community-based monitoring of water quality, and 

• other scientists to provide training courses that are being 

identified and offered at conferences and workshops.
Visualizing Data

A GVT will simulate the potential effects of proposed 

hydropower and irrigation dams on tributaries of the 

Mekong River and will complement the Mekong River 

Commission decision support system. The GVT will be 

• integrated with various hydrology models developed by 

the Mekong River Commission to visualize potential 

alterations in the timing, flow, and water quality of the 

Mekong River caused by tributary dams,

• used for a 3-dimensional animation showing river and 

reservoir characteristics and environmental changes 

before and after dam construction, and 

• used to illustrate how changes in hydrology could affect 

food security of the region by projected alterations of 

fisheries, agriculture, and the ecosystem.
Sambor

Lat Sua

Pak Lay Pak Chom

Xanakham

Pak Beng

Ban Khoum

Xayabouri

Don Sahong

Stung Treng

China

Thailand

India

Laos

Vietnam

Myanmar 

(Burma)

Cambodia

Bangladesh

0 200 400

Kilometers

Proposed dams

Dams under construction

Existing dams

N
The USGS will use research and data on flow, water 

quality, ecology, and sediment in the Mississippi River 

Basin to 

• summarize effects of dams, levees, and other river 

engineering structures on the ecology, hydrology, 

water quality, and sediment in those rivers, 

• provide an opportunity to compare restoration, 

conservation, and management efforts with other 

major river systems such as the Mekong, and

• produce a synthesis document describing historical and 

current water-resources development in the Mississippi 

River Basin and the resulting lessons learned.

Transferring Knowledge
Sharing Data A new Forecast Mekong Web site is 

available at http://deltas.usgs.gov/fm/. 

This Web site includes • an interactive mapping application 

with regional downscaled climate data 

for the Mekong River Basin to aid in 

climate research, 

• monthly cloud-filtered and monthly 

averaged moderate resolution imaging 

spectroradiometer (MODIS) images for 

bird’s eye views of the basin to develop 

baselines of conditions for vegetation 

indexes, and

• the Forecast Mekong video that 

describes the ecology and importance 

of the Mekong River in five languages, 

project plans and fact sheets, and 

a report on sea-level rise model 

projections for southern Vietnam.

Mekong River

China

Thailand

India

Laos

Vietnam

Myanmar 

(Burma)

Cambodia

Bhutan

Malaysia

Bangladesh

Indonesia

0 250 500

Kilometers

>90 0

>90

N
The initial effort of Forecast Mekong in 2009 highlighted the increasing 

cooperation between the United States and Lower Mekong River countries in 

the areas of environment, health, education, food security, and infrastructure 

development. An offshoot of the Delta Research and Global Observation 

Network (DRAGON) Partnership, Forecast Mekong was conceived as a 

platform for data integration, modeling, and visualization systems to help 

policy makers and the public understand and predict outcomes of watermanagement projects and climate variability in the Lower Mekong Basin. 

When fully developed by the USGS, in partnership with local governments 

and universities throughout the Mekong River region, Forecast Mekong will 

provide a valuable planning tool to visualize the consequences of climate 

change, water-resources development, and river management.

For more information, contact

Director, National Wetlands Research Center

nwrcdirector@usgs.gov

Staying the Course