According to the Director of the Insitute of Policies and Strategy at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development when we talk about regional issues we should talk about change in water regimes and impact caused by highway construction. China has built its hydropower plant upstream of the Mekong River. The closing of the dam and irregular releases of large amounts of water have changed the hydrological regime and the water quality of the Mekong River downstream, thus resulting in loss of fish and other aquatic species. This has resulted in adverse impacts on downstream villages. Unusual and dramatic fluctuations in the Mekong River levels have changed the environment and affected the life of the indigenous people who live along the river. The local people, especially women and girls, might be fearful of floods. This has affected local people's livelihoods downstream. Therefore, study into impact of China’s hydropower plants is needed to understand how the impact affects people, epecially the poor living along the river.