Key Messages
Key messages for this weekly report are presented below.
Rainfall and its forecast
During Feb 28-Mar 6, no rainfall was observed along the Mekong River, from Chiang Saen in Thailand to Tan Chau and Chau Doc in Viet Nam.
There will be wind and cold temperatures for the next 7 days over the Mekong region from 8 to 13 March 2023.
Water level and its forecast
The MRC’s observed water level (WL) at Jinghong showed a fluctuation between 535.22 m to 535.35 m during 28 Feb-6 Mar 2023. The outflow fluctuated between 816.00 m3 /s and 899.00 m3 /s during 28 Feb-6 Mar 2023.
Along with the fluctuated outflow at Jinghong upstream, water level of monitoring station at Chiang Saen in Thailand went down about 0.69 m during the reporting period and stayed 0.45 m below its LTA, considered low. WLs at the monitoring stations at Chiang Khan in Thailand decreased about 0.20 m, staying 0.05 m below its LTA value, while at Vientiane in Lao PDR it increased about 0.08 m and still stayed about 0.55 m above its LTA value. The current WL from Nong Khai in Thailand was about 0.25 m lower than its LTA value, while at Paksane in Lao PDR it was about 0.45 m lower than its LTA level, which considered low water level. WLs from Thailand’s Nakhon Phanom to Savannakhet increased between 0.05 m and 0.24 m, but from Khong Chiam in Thailand to Pakse in Lao PDR the WLs decreased about 0.10 m. WLs at these stations are slightly staying lower than their LTA value, except at Nakhon Phanom and Thakhek the WLs were staying slightly higher than their LTA value. Water levels from the stretches of the river from Stung Treng to Kratie in Cambodia, moreover, were slightly increasing and still staying higher than their LTA value due to contributed inflows and some rainfall from the upstream part (at Pakse and 3S area in Viet Nam). WL at Kompong Cham is about 0.16 m lower than its LTA value.
The water volume of the Tonle Sap Lake was slightly higher than its LTA during the same period from 28 Feb-6 Mar 2023, considered normal.
The current water levels for most of the stations are below their LTA value, except at Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Nakhon Phanom, Thakhek, Stung Treng, Kratie, Koh Khel and Neak Luong. WLs at the 2 tidal stations at Tan Chau and Chau Doc fluctuated between their maximum and LTA values, during this monitoring period.
Over the next seven days, the water levels across most monitoring stations are expected to go down and remain lower than their long-term average value in most stations.
Drought condition and its forecast
During Feb 27-Mar 5, the LMB was at normal condition in the upper and lower parts but at moderate dry in some areas of Vientiane, Borikhamxay, Khammuane, Nong Khai, and Nakhon Phanom in the north and Burirum and Nakhon Ratchasima in the south.
Those specific drought hotspots are considered normal as they are caused by dry soil moisture phenomenon during dry season.
For the coming three months, March is generally wet in the north and south while middle part is likely to be normal. April is forecasted to receive average rainfall all over the region. But May is likely to be severely dry over the 3S area and moderately dry in the south-east covering eastern part of Cambodia and Vietnam.
Source: Mekong River Commission