Parts of the river have reached their lowest levels in half a century
The first summit of the countries lining the massive Mekong River is to ask China about the impact of its development on water flows.
The river starts in China, where dams and a devastating drought are believed to be affecting downstream countries.
More than 60m people from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam depend on the Mekong River.
Further downstream drought, salt deposits and reduced soil nutrients are threatening food production in the rice bowls of Cambodia and Vietnam.
'Wider issues'
The Mekong River Commission opened its meeting between the prime ministers of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam on Sunday in the Thai resort of Hua Hin.
China and Burma are attending as dialogue partners; in a gesture indicating the seriousness of the diplomatic challenge, the Chinese delegation has 27 members.
In the weeks leading up to the conference, complaints from South East Asian users of the Mekong had prompted Chinese promises to share more information about water management issues.
On Monday, China's Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao was expected to pledge more co-operation.
He told the official Xinhua news agency that China was ready to strengthen ties with downstream Mekong countries in drought and flood relief, and information sharing.
He said that China was a victim too, with more than 23 million people hit by drought in five south-western provinces.
Environmentalists have long claimed that China's dam-building programme is hurting downstream livelihoods and producing irreversible change to the river's ecology.
But Jeremy Bird, head of the MRC's secretariat, said the conference was about more than blaming China.
"The topic is not specifically dam construction, the topic is on the wider issues of regional co-operation for the (Mekong) Basin. It covers many, many areas - navigation, flood management, hydropower, irrigation, fisheries," he said.
China has eight planned or existing dams on the mainstream river in China and says it wants more.
It says these are effective in releasing water during dry seasons and preventing flooding in rainy months.
Downstream countries are also planning or building a handful of dams.
Mekong Nations Call for China Assistance Amid Drought
Families, crops and livestock have been hit hard by the drought
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