Evolution of river regimes in the Mekong River basin over 8 decades and the role of dams in recent hydrological extremes

Abstract

Flow regimes in major global river systems are undergoing rapid alterations due to unprecedented stress from climate change and human activities. The Mekong River basin (MRB) was, until recently, among the last major global rivers relatively unaltered by humans, but this has been changing alarmingly in the last decade due to booming dam construction. Numerous studies have examined the MRB's flood pulse and its alterations in recent years. However, a mechanistic quantification at the basin scale attributing these changes to either climatic or human drivers is lacking. Here, we present the first results of the basin-wide changes in natural hydrological regimes in the MRB over the past 8 decades and the impacts of dams in recent decades by examining 83 years (1940–2022) of river regime characteristics simulated by a river–floodplain hydrodynamic model that includes 126 major dams in the MRB. Results indicate that, while the Mekong River's flow has shown substantial decadal trends and variabilities, the operation of dams in recent years has been causing a fundamental shift in the seasonal volume and timing of river flow and extreme hydrological conditions. Even though the dam-induced impacts have been small so far and most pronounced in areas directly downstream of major dams, dams are intensifying the natural variations in the Mekong's mainstream wet-season flow. Further, the additional 65 dams commissioned since 2010 have exacerbated drought conditions by substantially delaying the MRB's wet-season onset, especially in recent years (e.g., 2019 and 2020), when the natural wet-season durations are already shorter than in normal years. Further, dams have shifted by up to 20 % of the mainstream annual volume between the dry and wet seasons in recent years. While this has a minimal impact on the MRB's annual flow volume, the flood occurrence in many major areas of Tonlé Sap and the Mekong Delta has been largely altered. This study provides critical insights into the long-term hydrological variabilities and impacts of dams on the Mekong River's flow regimes, which can help improve water resource management in light of intensifying hydrological extremes.