Environmental Issues

In this Voice of America article the author explains the water crisis as a result of current drought in Southeast Asia and ongoing debate on the vital water resources. The primary vital water source in the region is the Mekong River, which flows approximately 4,000 miles from Tibet to Vietnam, runs through 6 countries. It is the fundamental source of drinking water, as well as agriculture, fishing, industry and power generation.

Recently the Mekong has shown lowest water levels in 50 years, which have led to concerns among the countries through which the river flows. According to many residents in northern Thailand, the river has never seen that low in their lifetime, and they worried that drinking water can become a problem soon. The primary reason behind this severe water shortage is the more than normal dry season in the region. It has alone affected 6.5 million hectares of crop and 20 million people.

According to an ADP engineer, this drought is really severe and lowering water levels in the Mekong basin will affect more crops and even will cause salty ocean water to come in Vietnams fertile Mekong basin area. Many environmentalists accuse large number of damming of the river of the low level of water in the river. They mostly criticize Chinas management of the river and building of dams on it. China rejects the accusations, as well as the Mekong River Commission also dismisses the idea and claims that dams have slowed the lowering of water level instead.

At the moment China and Thailand are holding talks on the river management, as there are fears of conflict on water resources due to rising population and increasing scarcity of water resources in the region. United Nations Social and Economic Commission for Asia also expressed similar concerns in its report released in March 2010.

The authors viewpoint does not seem to be biased, as the authors report and conclusion regarding the scarcity of water resources in the Mekong river area has substantial support and evidence. Moreover the authors conclusion that the shortage of water in the river would led to conflict leading to war is a sheer possibility, primarily because most of the dams constructed on the river are in China and no country in the region is capable to engage with China militarily. The only possible conflict will lead to regional dialogue which would finally result in cooperation and compromise between the nations on the management of water resources. China will be the country to compromise more than any one.
Part 2 Discussions on Others Work

Discussion on Summary1
I agree with the writer that China has major water shortage problems, particularly in the North China Plain region and that extensive measures are required to overcome this shortage. Writers assessment on the issue is sound and gives us a balanced and unbiased insight on the issues raised by the article. Despite having acute water shortages Chinese plan to diverge large amount of water from the southern river systems is not only very costly, but its environmental hazards are not deniable. It will nearly destroy the entire ecosystem of the region. Other choices like artificial rain etc. should also be considered before carrying on this project.

Discussion on Summary2
The writers opinion regarding the newly discovered bacteria, which would help purify water is agreeable, but as the author has mentioned there is no discussion on the side affects of large scale use on uncontrolled water resources. I think that it would be better to first determine all the possible affects on the ecosystem on rivers and streams before practically applying this method for purification.