Hidropolítica crítica na Bacia do Mekong : o caso do Lago Tonle Sap (2003-2023)

Abstract

The Tonle Sap Lake, located in the central plains of Cambodia, is one of the country’s most relevant water resources, not only due to its large fishing production, but also due to its cultural and environmental importance. It is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, housing more than 5 million people and being one of planet’s largest fishing production sites. The lake is also part of the Mekong River Basin system, so that during the flood period, the Mekong River has its level raised above the level of the Tonle Sap River, causing a reverse flow. The Tonle Sap River, in turn, floods its equivalent lake, which increases by almost six times its normal area. The Tonle Sap system, therefore, births a unique ecosystem, determining the social, environmental and political dynamics of the region. As it is linked to the Mekong River Basin, the Tonle Sap system is under the institutional governance of the Mekong River Commission, in addition to the various processes and obstacles that arise in the management of the basin’s water resources as a whole. Within the Commission, the lake is mostly seen as a socioeconomic resource, which makes the impacts generated by hydroelectric development projects invisible. In this sense, the research seeks, based on a Case Study, to understand how Tonle Sap is discursively constructed by the region's governance apparatuses, the problems generated by it and how this discourse clashes with other realities.