The Mekong region is enjoying a period of stability and rapid economic growth not experienced for centuries. As a result, the region demands increasing quantities of electricity, and exploiting its hydropower potential is high on the agenda. In contrast to the recent past, it is project developers and financiers from Asia rather than the West that are spearheading this hydropower drive. Yet, in a region where millions of people depend on the natural resources that rivers provide, many proposed dams pose risks for the environment, communities, project developers, and host governments.

This chapter outlines the current trends and main actors in hydropower development throughout the Mekong Region. It identifies the need for better planning practices and internationally recognized standards of best practice in the power sector. This will minimize project investment risks, and make certain that development in the Mekong Region is sustainable and equitable.

When the Sesan River started behaving unusually in late 1996, communities in Northeast Cambodia attributed it to the spirits that they believe in. But something more worldly was at work: just upstream and across the border, construction had begun on the Yali Falls Dam, which would decimate the river they had depended on for generations