Explain the story about the Mekong river that you read, using the theory of externality.

Please write more type of externality and more words. Thanks

The Mekong spurred saltwater intrusion in the delta, Torrent to trickle leaving many people with no fresh water to drink. "All the environmental indicators are in the red," says Marc Goichot of the WWF, a global conservation group. A drought in the lower basin played a big part in the atrophying of the river. But disappointing rains may not have been the SINGAPORE South-East Asia's biggest river is drying up, in part because of Chinese dams whole story. A new study claims that the 11 dams built on the Chinese portion of the FISH WRITHE frantically in the shallow Yet the river is ailing. Last year the water Mekong (see map on next page) exacerbat- I pool, as their schoolmates stranded on in the Mekong fell to its lowest level since ed the water shortage. Alan Basist and the exposed sandbar breathe their last. It is records began more than 60 years ago. Claude Williams, of Eyes on Earth Inc, an November, the end of the monsoon season, Cambodia endured months of debilitating environmental consultancy, used records yet the water in the Mekong river is peril- electricity blackouts because there was too of precipitation, snowmelt and water lev- ously low. On this stretch, in north-eastern little water to run a big hydropower plant. els before most of the dams were built to Thailand, the bank is so parched the earth Fish catches declined by as much as develop a model of how much water would has cracked, and once-leafy bushes are 80-90% in parts of the country, whose citi- normally flow into Thailand under differ- bone dry. Visitors have flocked to the desic- zens obtain almost two-thirds of their pro- ent weather conditions. They then com- cated river bed to catch the trapped carp tein from their nets. The parched condi- pared this "natural" water level to the actu- with their bare hands, but their delight tions are thought to have lopped $1.5bn off al flow after the dams had been built. does not diminish the disquiet of locals. Thailand's GDP, according to Krungsri, a lo- During the monsoon season, the lower Me- "These fish were parent fish," says Ormbun cal bank. In Vietnam the measly flow kong normally floods; during the dry sea- Thipsuna, a local fish farmer, recalling the son the waters recede. Since the first big scene. "No life any more," she sighs. The Mekong animates a vast swathe of Also in this section dams began operating in 2012, this annual pulse has been tamed: more water is now Asia, from the snow-packed mountains of 20 Sino-Indian border disputes sent downstream than is typical during the south-western China from which it 21 Adultery in Taiwan dry season and less is dispatched during springs, to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and the wet season. Vietnam in the lower portion of the basin. 21 A new covid cluster in South Korea The study also found that in 2019 Chi- As it meanders along its 4,500km route, it 22 Banyan: Militarising Sri Lanka na's part of the basin received more rain feeds and waters some 66m people. and snow than normal, despite the govern-20 Asia The Economist May 16th 2020 > ment's claims that China, too, was suffer- Sino-Indian border disputes ing from drought. Had all that water flowed Mekong dams Tibet Capacity > 100MW downstream, the river would have been be- Operational High dudgeon tween seven and eight metres deep as it en- tered Thailand-higher than usual for that Planned Postponed time of year. In fact, it was less than three Source: Stimson Centre metres. Just two of China's dams can store INDIA almost as much water as the Chesapeake Bay, an estuary of more than 11,000 square Sichuan Two vast armies settle their differences kilometres in America. During the dry sea- by pushing, shoving and punching son the upper reaches of the basin should MYANMAR contribute about 40% of the water flowing CHINA THE LAST Indian soldiers to die on the I country's frontier with China, the lon through the lower Mekong. "The Chinese gest disputed border in the world, were basically shut off the tap," Mr Basist says. shot in 1975, when patrols from the two Turning it on, he argues, "would have cer- countries stumbled across one another in tainly helped alleviate the drought". dense fog. The nuclear-armed neighbours The study, which was funded by Ameri- Yunnan have beefed up their border forces consid ca's government, has its critics. China's for- erably since then, but have also worked to eignominioushed it, and even the ensure that their disputes do not lead to Mekong River Commission (MRC), which bloodshed. That is why two clashes be- works with the governments of Cambodia, tween Indian and Chinese soldiers in re- Laos, Thailand and Vietnam to manage the cent days have been limited to a relatively river, has reservations. Anoulak Kitti- genteel form of combat: fisticuffs. khoun of the MRC says drought was the main reason for the Mekong's meagre flow. sack LAOS VIETNAM The most recent Sino-Indian confronta- ion occurred three years ago. In June 2017 He does agree, however, that it would be "Hanoi China began building a road in a spot helpful to have a better sense of the part known as Doklam, where India, China and China's dams played. the tiny mountainous kingdom of Bhutan "The point still remains", says Maureen meet. That led to a tense 73-day standoff be- Harris of International Rivers, a pressure Vientiane Gulf of tween Indian and Chinese forces before group, "that China could have done and can Tonkin both sides agreed to fall back. An informal do more to alleviate the conditions being THAILAND summit the following April between Na- felt downstream." Indeed, it has done so rendra Modi, India's prime minister, and Xi before. In 2016, when the lower Mekong Jinping, China's president (in, of all places, was afflicted by another severe drought, the Chinese city of Wuhan, soon to become China released water from its dams at the the birthplace of covid-19), seemed to MRC's request. "It goes without saying that CAMBODIA soothe relations between the rivals. But the friends should help each other when help 'Wuhan spirit", as boosters termed it, has is needed," said China's foreign ministry. clearly faded. In January, China boosted the flow again, During April tensions appeared to build this time at Thailand's behest. Phnom between Indian and Chinese troops in La- The extra water is coming at the wrong Penh dakh, a high plateau at the western edge of time, unfortunately. A damp dry season Tibet. On May 5th these erupted into vio- prevents birds from laying eggs on exposed Gulf of lence when Chinese troops reportedly took riverbanks, and farmers from planting Thailand South issue with an Indian patrol on the north crops in the rich sediment deposited dur- China bank of Pangong lake, where the two coun- ing the monsoon. In Thailand sudden tor- 250 km ries have overlapping claims. The result- rents of water have washed away boats and ing fist-fight and stone-pelting resulted in entire river banks, reports Pianporn Deetes ther. Again, there are encouraging signs. injuries on both sides, including to senior of International Rivers. Ms Ormbun can no Last November the Lancang Mekong Coop- officers. Indian officials remain concerned longer sell the fish she raises at the markets eration, an organisation founded by China about Chinese construction activity in La- that normally spring up on beaches ex- in 2016 to promote trade among the Me- dakh near Daulat Beg Oldi, a vital airfield, posed during the dry season. "The river is at kong countries, agreed to team up with the and Demchok, a strategically located vil- its best when it can run its natural course," MRC to investigate what caused last year's lage. Then on May 9th another skirmish says Brian Eyler, author of"The Last Days of drought. But as promising as that is, greater broke out 1,oookm to the east at Naku La, a the Mighty Mekong". transparency will not create more water. mountain pass near Doklam. Shortly after- China has not signed any agreements The Mekong is "at breaking point", says wards Nepal, another small kingdom about managing the Mekong with the other Ms Harris. To save it, the countries that wedged between the two giants, which M countries it flows through, so is not obliged share it need to bin plans for additional Xi visited in October, complained about In to share a particular amount of water with dams: China intends to build eight more dia's own road-building in yet another dis- them, nor even provide data on the flow or and Laos seven. Cambodia is moving in the puted border area. any warning about the operations of its right direction. In March the government Small dust-ups are common. Thanks in dams. It does provide the MRC with a trickle declared a moratorium on all hydropower part to slapdash colonial cartography, the of information about water levels and projects on the Mekong for the next decade. boundary between India and China is un- planned releases from dams, which helps Unless other countries follow suit, Ms Har- defined. Whereas India and Pakistan agree with flood-control lower down the river. ris frets that "the Mekong river basin as it's where the "line of control" separating their Mr Eyler hopes that studies like Mr Ba- been known for thousands of years..will forces runs in the disputed territory of ciet's will prompt China to an a hit fur- _not ha tha came in the future" Vachmis India and China have different it