Subsidence in coastal areas of the Vietnamese Mekong delta: challenges and possibilities for adaptation

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Nguyen Hieu Trung, Pham Dang Tri Van

Chair(s): Esther Stouthamer

Tuesday 30 june 2015

11:20 - 11:40h at Asia (level 0)

Themes: (T) Special session, (ST) Deltas from multiple pressures to integrated solutions

Parallel session: 5C. Special session: Deltas - from multiple pressures to integrated solutions.

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Climate change and in-situ development (e.g. full-dyke and semi-dyke system development and urbanization) are often considered to be of main driving forces leading to fluvial and coastal floods in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. However, little attention was paid to the subsidence of the land surface while it was pronounced to be serious, especially in the coastal areas where groundwater have been intensively used for different purposes (including irrigation and industrial and domestic uses). This paper is to present the use of groundwater resources in Soc Trang, a coastal province of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Degradation of such sources over the last decade is also presented. Finally, expert knowledge was collected to propose possible adaptation to such degradation of the groundwater resources.