environment are needed to sustain important ecosystem services
in
the Mekong Basin, such as capture fisheries, low-input flood
recession
agriculture, and maintenance of the delta (Barlow et al.,
2008;
Molle et al., 2009; Osborne, 2009). There are water shortages
in
certain parts of the region that could be exacerbated if resources
are
further constrained, as illustrated by the proposal for an interbasin
transfer ‘‘water grid’’ from the Mekong River to supply water
to
Thailand (Lebel et al., 2005; Molle and Floch, 2007). To what
extent
the water gap in these countries could or would be met
through
rainfed agriculture and pasture systems or irrigation is
uncertain.