China, Laos cooperate in depth in water conservancy

Laos enters the rainy season in June. While mitigating the summer heat, the abundant precipitation also increases the risk of flooding.

"Too much rainfall will bring up the water level of the Mekong River and its tributaries in Laos, causing floods, mudslides and other damages ," said Mr. Khanmany Khounphonh, director general of the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Lao Ministry of National Resource and Environment.

“I used to be worried during the rainy season, but no more this year,”the Lao official noted on June 4. With the deepened China-Laos cooperation in meteorology and water conservancy under the Lancang-Mekong cooperation, Laos’s ability to manage water resources and prevent natural disasters has improved. 

“I no longer need to take a meter to the river to measure the water-level in the rain,” said director of the Lao National Water Information Center. At the center, the staff were monitoring the level of the Mekong River in real time, collecting hydrological data every hour. The collected data are transmitted to the director’s office.

An electronic screen on the wall shows the panoramic view of the Mekong reach in Laos, as well as the specific water levels, flow rates, rainfalls and the like. The camera of the hydrological station can rotate 360 ​​degrees to record the data.

The Lao National Water Information Center is a pilot project aided by the Chinese government, and also one of the early-harvest outcomes of the Langcang-Mekong cooperation.

Chinese source: People’s Daily; trans-editing by Wang Shixue