The MRC has been hesitant to fully register concerns about Chinese upstream hydro-development. For example, in a letter to the "Bangkok Post", MRC CEO Dr. Olivier Cogels in fact argued that Chinese dams would increase the river's dry season volume as their purpose was electricity generation and not irrigation. While such dams certainly could increase dry season flows, the only certainty about future Chinese reservoir policies seems to be that they will be crafted outside of downstream cooperation regimes. Public statements from MRC leaders in the same vein as Cogels' comments have—to some—earned the MRC a reputation of being complicit in allowing "China's dam-building machine float downstream."