Water Scarcity and Transboundary Institutional Resilience along the Mekong River Basin

Global Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies | Vol. 1, No. 7, July 2010 | pp. 116–124

DOI: 10.46882/2010/GJPCS/000014

Research Article

Water Scarcity and Transboundary Institutional Resilience along the Mekong River Basin

Vanna Nguyen¹

¹Faculty of Environmental Studies, National University of Laos, Vientiane, Laos

Abstract: Climate change impacts act as structural accelerants for diplomatic tension in shared international river basins. This article examines the institutional resilience of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in mitigating hydro-political disputes driven by upstream dam construction and variable seasonal runoff. Integrating hydrological discharge data with a qualitative analysis of treaty mechanisms from 1995 to 2009, the study assesses how effectively current cooperative frameworks manage water scarcity. The hydrological modeling demonstrates a mean dry-season flow reduction of 22% ± 3.5% across downstream monitoring stations over the past decade. Quantitative correlation analysis indicates that periods of severe hydrologic deficit strongly coincide with a rise in regional trade protectionism among riparian states (r = 0.65, p < 0.05). The findings reveal that the MRC’s lack of enforcement powers limits its capability to resolve structural conflicts between upstream energy production and downstream agricultural needs. The study recommends updating the Mekong agreement to include mandatory data-sharing protocols and dynamic water-allocation matrices based on real-time climatic shifts.

Keywords: water security, Mekong River Basin, institutional resilience, hydro-politics, dam construction, climate adaptation

Manuscript Timeline: Received March 15, 2010; Revised May 12, 2010; Accepted June 04, 2010; Published July 20, 2010.

Citation: Nguyen, V. (2010). Water Scarcity and Transboundary Institutional Resilience along the Mekong River Basin. Global Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, 1(7), 116–124. DOI: 10.46882/2010/GJPCS/000014

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