Protecting water resources calls for international efforts.

The Mekong River courses over some 2700 miles of dramatically changing terrain, traverses six Southeast Asian countries from China’s Tibetan Plateau to the South China Sea, supports one of the planet’s most productive inland fisheries, and continues to reshape a region it has defined for thousands of years. So powerful is the discharge from the swollen Mekong during the June to October rainy season that it forces the Tonle Sap River in central Cambodia to reverse course, stretching the boundaries of the upstream Tonle Sap Lake, depositing Mekong-rich sediment, and submerging surrounding forests to establish a rich breeding ground for fish. Just south of the ancient Angkor temples, this water basin produces a diverse variety of fish, employs some 2 million people, and accounts for up to 75% of the animal protein and a large percentage of the nutrients Cambodians consume, said Michael Cooperman, director of Conservation International’s freshwater fish and fisheries program. Yet, expanding populations, improving living standards, and increasing hydropower construction—coupled with inefficient irrigation practices and strained resource governance—threaten to set off cascading effects. Such effects include the flight of rural residents to cities, overfishing by those who remain, and land clearing for agricultural purposes as the Tonle Sap River shrinks—outcomes that threaten to destroy this “complex human-natural ecosystem,” Cooperman added. The Mekong Delta was one of many vulnerable water systems highlighted during a full-day symposium entitled “Water Diplomacy: Can Global Cooperation Safeguard our Most Fundamental Resource?”, hosted by AAAS at its Washington, D.C., headquarters on 12 May. The symposium was organized by scientists who are current and former participants in the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships program and members of the Science Diplomacy Affinity Group, one of 24 organizations that bring together such AAAS fellows eager to leverage science to help build cooperation between and among governments and nongovernmental groups, and contribute to resolving world challenges. In general, the goal of the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships is to forge relationships between the worlds of science and policy by presenting scientists and engineers with an opportunity to work alongside congressional staff or participate in policy-making in federal agencies—inviting fellows to apply their scientific knowledge to policy concerns, while also giving them an eye into the policy-making process. The Science Diplomacy Affinity Group looks specifically at applying science to collaborate on important issues across borders. “These scientific connections can sometimes be the key to solving problems intractable through official channels,” said Joel Creswell, coProtecting water resources calls for international efforts