China releases water from dam to alleviate SE 

A Southwest China hydropower station has increased water discharges to up to 2,190 cubic meters per second on a trans-boundary river, in order to provide emergency water supply to Vietnam and other countries in the drought-afflicted Southeast Asian region. The Jinghong hydropower station in Southwest China's Yunnan province will increase its water discharge on the Lancang-Mekong River through April 10. It will benefit Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Due to the prolonged effects of El Nino conditions which started taking a toll last year, the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam is going through the worst drought in nearly 100 years, and large areas of paddy fields will likely be damaged. According to Vietnamese media, some 140,000 ha of rice in the Mekong Delta has been damaged by the drought with around 600,000 people facing drinking water shortages.