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State of the Basin Report - 2003Table 6. List of planned and completed hydropower projects on the Mekong in ChinaName of Installed Annual Total Catchment Average CommissProject Capacity Generation storage C. Area Flow -ioning(MW) (GWh) (million m 3 ) (km 2 ) (m 3 /s)Gongguoqiao 750 4,670 510 97,300 985Xiaowan 4,200 18,540 15,130 113,300 1,220 2010-12Manwan 1,500 7,870 920 114,500 1,230 1993Dachaoshan 1,350 7,090 880 121,000 1,230 2001Nuozhadu 5,500 22,670 24,670 144,700 1,750 2013-16Jinghong 1,500 8,470 1,040 149,100 1,840 2012-13Ganlanba 150 1,010 151,800 1,880Mengsong 600 3,740 160,000 2,020Total 15,550 74,060Source: Committee of Science and Technology 1993; ADB 2001.China plans to complete three more hydro projects between 2010 and 2020. These are the Xiaowanproject, with a reservoir capacity of 15,130 million m 3 and an installed generation capacity of 4,200MW; the Jinghong project with a reservoir capacity of 1,040 million m 3 and an installed generationcapacity of 1,500 MW; and the Nuozhadu project with a reservoir capacity of 24,670 million m 3 andan installed generation capacity of 5,500 MW. On January 20, 2002 China announced thecommencement of construction on the Xiaowan project.Now that the first two dams, Dachaoshan and Manwan, have been constructed and are operating,some downstream impacts such as changing of the river’s flow pattern, blocking of sediment andimpacts on the environment have occurred. The reduction in suspended sediment concentrationsresulting from sediment trapping inManwan Dam is already apparent as fardownstream as Pakse in southern LaoPDR. The next two projects, Xiaowan andNuozhadu, will have much largerreservoirs and could also change the river’sflow on a seasonal basis.Dachaoshan Dam in China is the second of two largedams built on the Mekong mainstream in China. China isplanning to build 6 more dams on the mainstreamTo maximise the positive impacts andminimise the negative impacts from dams,they should be planned and operated inconsultation with all countries in a riverbasin. Ideally such a scheme forconsultation and rules for dam operationwill be established by 2008-2009 – beforethe commencement of ponding in theXiaowan reservoir.Sharing data among countries on a common river system is crucial. The kinds of data that are requiredby countries downstream from planned hydropower projects include: information on real-time andscheduled dam operation (operation data for the power station, inflows, water level of the reservoir,discharges from the spillway, discharges to maintain river flow, utilisation of water for irrigation anddomestic use). In order to exchange data on these subjects a system must be developed collaborativelyamong the countries concerned.214