The 4350 km-long Mekong River flows from steep mountainous areas to sea-level delta as it passes through Tibet, China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam. Along its course it encounters different types of economies, governance capacities, local water management practices and historical cross-border relations. Further, processes of economic change and greater interactions over space ranging from the local to the global scales increasingly underscore the understanding that managing water alone will not address the sources of contemporary water issues.