The Mekong is the most controversial river in Southeast Asia, and increasingly the focus of international attention. It flows through 6 countries, China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and VietNam, has the largest freshwater fishery in the world and supports an enormous rice-growing industry. Yet it is a river system under threat from development, hydropower dams and irrigation schemes. This book will provide a broad overview of all the environmental aspects of the Mekong River. It discusses the possible impacts--biological, physical, economic and social--of some possible development scenarios and provides a technical basis which can inform the growing political and conservation debate about the future of the Mekong River and those who depend on it. It is aimed at river ecologists, geographers, environmentalists and development specialists both in the basin and elsewhere.

1. Introduction - I. C. Campbell 2. The Geology of the Lower Mekong River - Paul A. Carling 3. Geology of Landforms of the Mekong Basin - Avijit Gupta 4. The Hydrology of the Mekong River - Peter T. Adamson, Ian D. Rutherfurd, Murray C. Peel, Iwona A. Conlan 5. Geomorphology and Sedimentology of the Lower Mekong River - Paul A. Carling 6. The Sediment Load of the Mekong River - Des E. Walling 7. Vegetation in the Mekong Basin - Philip W. Rundel 8. Fish Diversity in the Mekong River Basin - John Valbo-Jorgensen, David Coates, Kent Hortle 9. Fisheries of the Mekong River Basin - Kent G. Hortle 10. Tonle Sap Lake, the Heart of the Lower Mekong - I. C. Campbell, S. Say, J. Beardall 11. Mekong Schistosomiasis: Where Did It Come from and Where Is It Going? 12. Water Quality of the Lower Mekong River - Edwin D. Ongley 13. The Development and Application of Biomonitoring in the Lower Mekong River System - I. C. Campbell, Bruce C. Chessman, Vincent H. Resh 14. Watercourse Environmental Change in Upper Mekong - Daming He, Ying Lu, Zhiguo Li, Shaojuan Li 15. Conserving Dolphins in the Mekong River: The Complex Challenge of Competing Interests - Isabel Beasley, Helene Marsh, Thomas A. Jefferson, Peter Arnold 16. Development Scenarios and Mekong River Flows - I. C. Campbell 17. The Challenges for Mekong River Management - I. C. Campbell