The Mekong River Commission says it will establish a system to monitor water use

and provide information on development along the Tibet-sourced 4900-kilometer river

and its tributaries.

The commission, whose member countries are Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam-but

not China-said commission members will monitor use of water from the river's tributaries

and provide data on planned development projects, including environmental assessments.

"Tens of thousands" of dams, mostly in China and Thailand, divert water

from the Mekong for agricultural land irrigation and power generation, the commission

said - but the dams cause fluctuations in river water levels, upsetting the lives

of people living on the river.