Before it reaches the sea, the Mekong River travels more than 2,500 miles through Tibet, China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is estimated that more than 60 million people depend on the river in some way. But the dams are changing the river and impacting the people who depend on it.

For better or worse, four dams are already in place and 11 are on their way, most of which will be in China.

China is working to reduce their dependence on coal, and get more power from renewable sources like hydroelectricity, according to IRIN, the UN news agency, which reports that "governments downstream claim the hydroelectric dams will cut electricity costs."

The dams currently generate over 3,000 megawatts of electricity, says Radio Free Asia. A Portland General Electric representative told me that's enough electricity to power a city about the size of Portland, Oregon — with a population of 575,000 people — for an entire year.

Besides energy, the dams also help to regulate the rivers flow. As IRIN reports, supporters are saying this is a pretty impressive perk, since the region's unpredictable rains often times cause a flood or drought.

But others, including locals, don't think so highly of the dams.

According to the Foundation for Ecological Recovery, the river's fishing industry alone is worth up to $3 billion annually, and the existing dams are already decreasing that profit. Mekong fisherman Ouy Chai tells Al Jazeera that "before you could catch 10-20 fish in one day and now you can fish all week and not catch anything." His wife says, "I'm scared. What will be left for our children and grandchildren to eat?"

In the same vein, many environmentalists are saying that the dams are harsh on the environment, causing erosion and harming biodiversity. Nguyen Huu Chien, head of the environment and natural resource management program at Can Tho University, tells Radio Free Asia that "it is like a blood vessel in the human body. When we build dams, it is like a blockage in the veins: it will definitely affect other areas."

Despite the protesting and petitioning efforts of those against the dams, IRIN reports that two new ones are currently underway.

The isolated hills in landlocked Laos have become the newest portion of a multi-billion-dollar highway system connecting China to Southeast Asia. Laos, a region once impoverished by decades of conflict and isolation, now finds itself in the middle of a fast-paced flow of people, goods and services benefiting from China and the Asian Development Bank’s decade-long plan for an integrated regional trade route. A new road linking Laos to its richer neighbors brings up the question of balance between rapid economic progress and environmental protection in less-developed countries. While Laos is certainly among the world’s most environmentally pristine countries, and for that reason an appealing backpacking destination, its people seek a life beyond meager trading in opium and tiger bones. Laos is the final link in a 6,500-kilometer overland route expected to boost trade and tourism from Singapore to Beijing. Supporters of this regional highway network argue that the new trade route will help reduce poverty by providing access to markets, income, and employment opportunities. According to the International Herald Tribune, total trade between China and the Southeast Asian countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam has risen from $5.7 billion a decade ago to $53 billion in 2007. The highways will also provide people with easier access to social services, such as health clinics, and increase revenue in the tourism sector. Critics from abroad, however, are quick to argue that the network of highways will contribute to widespread pollution and natural resource depletion as well as promote illegal wildlife and timber trade. For Laotians, the concerns aren't environmental but social.

Lao expert Martin Stuart-Fox of Australia's University of Queensland said many Lao people now feared the "truck-stop development" of their country. "Lao friends of mine fear that social ills such as HIV/AIDS and prostitution will flourish, and that it will make it easier to lure young Lao to be exploited — sexually and otherwise — in Thailand and Vietnam."