The Nations, June 16/6/2017
Vietnamese worry about serious harm from dams, other projects on river.
FEARS are rising in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam about food and social insecurity caused by hydropower dams and water-diversion projects planned or already started further upstream.
The delta has an extensive system of canals and green paddy fields that stretches for kilometres, creating a part of the world that seems blessed with abundance like a virtual Garden of Eden. Local people are down-to-earth, but troubled by the increasingly frequent and serious saltwater intrusion, which destroys their crops, while the riverbanks and seashore are eroding at an alarming rate.
One farmer in Kien Giang province, who asked to be known just as “Tron”, told reporters on a recent field trip that her farm was threatened by saltwater intrusion and erosion every year – and the problems seemed to be getting worse.
“Last year I had to replant almost all of the starfruit trees in my orchard, because the saltwater encroached deep into the river in the dry season and killed most of my fruit trees,” Tron said, pointing to a line of small trees behind a bamboo fence.
“The saltwater also affected my paddy field and significantly reduced the rice yield.”
Damage from saltwater intrusion has slashed her family’s income from around US$5,000 (Bt170,000) annually in a normal year to just $1,000, which was not enough to feed the whole family, as she was responsible for her elderly mother and four children.
“I don’t know what to do now. I have to spend more money to save my farm for the next dry season by digging a groundwater well. Also, I have to fix the embankment in front of my home, as the river is widening, eroding more riverbank every year as well,” she said.
River basin management expert and lecturer at Can Tho University Nguyen Nhan Quang said food security and the well-being of people in the delta were at stake, as upstream projects were causing devastating impacts on Vietnam’s rice basket and the damage was intensifying.
Nguyen said the dams upriver were blocking the flow of sediment to the delta and contributing to shoreline erosion along the coast, while water-diversion projects would cut the amount of freshwater and increase saltwater intrusion.
“Vietnam has already experienced serious impacts from the development projects upriver and the situation tends to get worse to the point where it is damaging the main food source and people’s livelihoods can’t be ensured, as more projects such as the Pak Beng Dam and the Khong-Loei-Chi-Mun water-diversion project are progressing,” he said.
“Vietnam is the farthest downstream country, so we will see the most impact from developments upriver, as water quantity, water quality and sediment flow will change drastically and harm the economy of the region, which is based on agriculture and fisheries.”
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June 17, 2017
Upstream projects risk Mekong Delta disaster
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
The Nations, June 16/6/2017
Vietnamese worry about serious harm from dams, other projects on river.
FEARS are rising in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam about food and social insecurity caused by hydropower dams and water-diversion projects planned or already started further upstream.
The delta has an extensive system of canals and green paddy fields that stretches for kilometres, creating a part of the world that seems blessed with abundance like a virtual Garden of Eden. Local people are down-to-earth, but troubled by the increasingly frequent and serious saltwater intrusion, which destroys their crops, while the riverbanks and seashore are eroding at an alarming rate.
One farmer in Kien Giang province, who asked to be known just as “Tron”, told reporters on a recent field trip that her farm was threatened by saltwater intrusion and erosion every year – and the problems seemed to be getting worse.
“Last year I had to replant almost all of the starfruit trees in my orchard, because the saltwater encroached deep into the river in the dry season and killed most of my fruit trees,” Tron said, pointing to a line of small trees behind a bamboo fence.
“The saltwater also affected my paddy field and significantly reduced the rice yield.”
Damage from saltwater intrusion has slashed her family’s income from around US$5,000 (Bt170,000) annually in a normal year to just $1,000, which was not enough to feed the whole family, as she was responsible for her elderly mother and four children.
“I don’t know what to do now. I have to spend more money to save my farm for the next dry season by digging a groundwater well. Also, I have to fix the embankment in front of my home, as the river is widening, eroding more riverbank every year as well,” she said.
River basin management expert and lecturer at Can Tho University Nguyen Nhan Quang said food security and the well-being of people in the delta were at stake, as upstream projects were causing devastating impacts on Vietnam’s rice basket and the damage was intensifying.
Nguyen said the dams upriver were blocking the flow of sediment to the delta and contributing to shoreline erosion along the coast, while water-diversion projects would cut the amount of freshwater and increase saltwater intrusion.
“Vietnam has already experienced serious impacts from the development projects upriver and the situation tends to get worse to the point where it is damaging the main food source and people’s livelihoods can’t be ensured, as more projects such as the Pak Beng Dam and the Khong-Loei-Chi-Mun water-diversion project are progressing,” he said.
“Vietnam is the farthest downstream country, so we will see the most impact from developments upriver, as water quantity, water quality and sediment flow will change drastically and harm the economy of the region, which is based on agriculture and fisheries.”