23 January 2019
Kratie, Cambodia News: Unusually for the dry season, Mekong water levels began to rise slightly last week in two regions close to the Laos border, Stung Treng and Kratie. The water levels at Kratie rose from 8.47m on 15 January, peaking at 9.17m on 22 January, and the increase has been recorded by the Water Resources and Meteorology department.
There is no danger because the Mekong is low at this time of the year, and at 9m the river level at Kratie is well below the alert level of 22m, but rising waters are abnormal for the season, and those living on the riverbanks have been advised to take precautions.
http://ffw.mrcmekong.org

Water levels at the popular Kampi resort in Kratie have risen 0.5m over the weekend, obliging the local vendors to evacuate and the site to be closed temporarily. Locals were shocked and surprised; they say they have never seen this sort of flooding at Kampi at this time of year, and many people are concerned for their livelihood with the site's closure during the tourist season.




As a comparison, this is a photo of Kampi from December 2018:

Photos Kohsantepheap

And, of course, the big question is, where did this water come from ? Some sources said initially that a dam in a 'neighboring country' had released water causing the sudden increase. There was speculation that a dam upriver in neighboring Laos had been forced to release water to cope with the water level increase caused by heavy rainfall in Thailand.

This theory has been denied by a spokesman for the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology spokesman Mao Hak, who said that whenever a hydropower dam is opened or closed, countries located along the Mekong River inform each other.
However, Taing Teng, the provincial director of the Water Resources and Meteorology department, has said that an investigation is underway to determine the provenance of the unexpected water.