Vietnamplus

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoRE) has called on provinces and cities nationwide to step up the conservation of groundwater resources.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Environment and Natural Resources has proposed other municipal departments and agencies cooperate with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in addressing land subsidence.

An 80-cm rise in the sea level could leave 31.94 percent of the Mekong Delta permanently flooded, according to the 2020 version of the climate change scenario report recently released by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE).

Vietnamese and Dutch experts gave recommendations on measures to respond to land subsidence and saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta region during a scientific conference on January 12.

The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region needs “consistent strategies” to deal with groundwater extraction, land subsidence and saltwater intrusion in an increasingly urbanising area, experts said at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on November 25.

The overexploitation of groundwater in the Mekong Delta has contributed to severe land subsidence, which could lead to devastating consequences if the practice continues, experts have said.

Land subsidence in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta has ranged from 0.1 to 81 centimetres in the last 10 years, according to the Water Resources Management Department at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The Mekong Delta is subsiding at an alarming rate, and if the situation continues without effective solutions, the livelihoods of tens of millions of people will be threatened, especially those in coastal areas, heard a recent workshop.

Land subsidence is worsening in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, and experts told a recent seminar in Can Tho city that over-exploitation of groundwater is one of the factors causing it.

Rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta are becoming alarming, said Prof. David Dapice, Senior Economist, Vietnam and Myanmar Programme, Harvard Kennedy School, at a meeting with leaders of Can Tho city on October 8.

The Mekong Delta region is sinking between 2 and 5cm per year, Lao Dong newspaper reported, citing source from the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

A forum in Ho Chi Minh City on June 18 once again urged effective solutions to riverside and coastal erosion, land subsidence and saltwater intrusion, which are getting worse in the Mekong Delta.

The Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang announced on April 9 that the upcoming Dutch-invested Blue Dragon project on human resources training for water resource management is crucial to the locality.

A scientific seminar on land subsidence in the Mekong Delta – situation and solutions took place in Hanoi on December 28.

Sinking land in the Mekong Delta is causing a headache for the local administration.

Ho Chi Minh City’s authorities plan to reduce the exploitation of groundwater from now to 2025 to prevent land subsidence and protect residents’ health.

A hole, as a result of land subsidence, suddenly formed in front of a house in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh’s Cam Pha city in the evening of April 5.

Ho Chi Minh City is considering an eight-year plan to reduce the exploitation of groundwater resources in an aim to protect residents’ health and avoid risks of land subsidence.

The Mekong Delta region has been facing worsening land subsidence, which has been compounded by the prolonged drought in the region this year.