Why this matters
The river
- Nearly 65 million people live in the Lower Mekong Basin; an estimated 80% depend on the river and its resources for their livelihoods. (Mekong River Commission, 'Mekong River Basin')
- About 40% of the Lower Mekong Basin's people live within 15 km of the Mekong mainstream. (Mekong River Commission, 'People')
- The Mekong's annual fish catch is about 2.3 million tonnes; MRC values Lower Basin capture fisheries at around USD 11 billion a year. (Mekong River Commission, 'Fisheries Monitoring')
- Fish provides 81% of protein intake in Cambodia and 48% in Lao PDR. (Mekong River Commission, 'Fisheries Monitoring')
Figures quoted from the Mekong River Commission; follow the links for the original wording.
What River Monitor covers today
18
Monitored sites
Monitored sites
5
Lancang dams with our radar series
Lancang dams with our radar series
590
Reservoir-months of radar data
Reservoir-months of radar data
2017-01 to 2026-10
Radar record
Radar record
8
MRC gauges tracked daily
MRC gauges tracked daily
88,055
Gauge-days of public MRC data
Gauge-days of public MRC data
10
Downstream towns with travel times
Downstream towns with travel times
60
Monthly dam reports available (5 dams × last 12 months)
Monthly dam reports available (5 dams × last 12 months)
7
Gauges below 10th percentile today
Gauges below 10th percentile today
Counted from our data files when this page loads.
How it works
- Satellite radar (Copernicus Sentinel-1) maps the water area of the Chinese Lancang reservoirs every month, through cloud.
- Public MRC gauges (PMFM dashboard) give daily water level and flow at 8 mainstem stations from Chiang Saen to the Vietnamese delta.
- Our models flag unusual reservoir drops, detect one-day release pulses and estimate arrival windows downstream, and compare today's level with 20 years of history.
- Outputs: free public pages, alerts (switched off until validated), monthly PDF reports and a data API.
How well does it work? (honest results)
| Test | Result | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly dam drop signals vs Chiang Saen rises | precision 0.57, recall 0.36; chance 0.55 | No skill above chance yet |
| Daily release-pulse travel to downstream towns (held-out 2018–2026) | 54 held-out pulses; validated towns: 0 of 6 | Experimental: no town beat persistence |
We publish weak results too. Alerts stay labelled experimental until they beat simple baselines on held-out data.