Water utilities in Vietnam, particularly in the Mekong Delta, musttake pro-active action to safeguard the sustainability of future publicwater-supply services, as climate change is affecting water production,experts said at an international seminar held in Can Tho this week.
Ata three-day seminar that began on November 20, foreign and localresearchers said that changing precipitation patterns and rising sealevels were increasing the salinity of surface water and groundwater.
Extractinggroundwater for domestic, agricultural and industrial use mightexacerbate natural land subsidence, especially in river deltas, theysaid.
To ensure the sustainability of future water supply in theregion and especially in the southwest, the Ministry of Constructionplans to build two inter-regional water supply plants using surfacewater sources from the Hau River, said Le Van Tuan, General Director ofVietnam Water Sanitation and Environment Joint Stock Company.
High investment costs will be needed for the two plants, so economic efficiency will not be high initially, according to Tuan.
"This is a challenge in building the plants," he said.
LeAnh Tuan, Vice Director of Research Institute for Climate Change underCan Tho University, said on the sidelines of the meeting that manymethods for sustainable water supply should be carried out in case theplants break down a suspension of water supply occurs.
Moreover,if water sources for the inter-regional water-supply systems come onlyfrom the Hau River, long-term sustainable water supply would not beensured.
If the Hau River's water sources are polluted or thewater level falls in the future, the region would lack sufficient water,he added.
Because long water pipelines can easily cause waterlosses, the best method to use would be artificial aquifer recharge(AR), which is common in many countries.
With AR, naturalgroundwater supplies are enhanced by using man-made conveyances such asinfiltration basins or injection wells, according to the USEnvironmental Protection Agency.
Tuan said that Vietnamese researchers should seriously consider using the AR method.
TomKompier, First Secretary for water and climate at the Embassy of theNetherlands, said his country was located at the end of a river systemin a very fertile plain and has huge agricultural potential, just likeVietnam's Mekong Delta.
"Climate change is of great concern to us," he said.
Not all of its impacts are negative, but there is ample cause for worry, he said.
The sea-level is rising, weather patterns are shifting, and discharge from the rivers is changing.
"Weneed to prepare for floods on the one hand and water shortages on theother. I am sure this sounds familiar, because these are major concernsin Vietnam, too," he said.
The Netherlands focuses on the important relations between water management and the ability to adapt to climate change.
"Weknow that climate change is happening, we know its direction, but whatwe don't know is how fast change will be. We also know that dealing withclimate change is going to cost a lot of money, but we realise ourfunds are limited," he added.
"In the Netherlands, we also haveabundant fresh water, but not the entire year. Like Vietnam, we haveproblems with subsidence and with increased salinisation," Kompier said.
One innovation to deal with water scarcity is the introduction of service levels, he said.
Thenational and local government, utilities, and users would discuss whatthe maximum sustainable level of water supply should be, and practicalwater use during periods of scarcity, he added.
The seminar is part of a project on climate-change preparedness for public water utilities.
Begunlast year, the four-year project is carried out by a partnership ofwater utilities, provincial governments and academic institutions inVietnam and the Netherlands.
VitensEvides International (VEI), ajoint venture of the two largest public water utilities of theNetherlands, is the lead partner.-VNA
Ata three-day seminar that began on November 20, foreign and localresearchers said that changing precipitation patterns and rising sealevels were increasing the salinity of surface water and groundwater.
Extractinggroundwater for domestic, agricultural and industrial use mightexacerbate natural land subsidence, especially in river deltas, theysaid.
To ensure the sustainability of future water supply in theregion and especially in the southwest, the Ministry of Constructionplans to build two inter-regional water supply plants using surfacewater sources from the Hau River, said Le Van Tuan, General Director ofVietnam Water Sanitation and Environment Joint Stock Company.
High investment costs will be needed for the two plants, so economic efficiency will not be high initially, according to Tuan.
"This is a challenge in building the plants," he said.
LeAnh Tuan, Vice Director of Research Institute for Climate Change underCan Tho University, said on the sidelines of the meeting that manymethods for sustainable water supply should be carried out in case theplants break down a suspension of water supply occurs.
Moreover,if water sources for the inter-regional water-supply systems come onlyfrom the Hau River, long-term sustainable water supply would not beensured.
If the Hau River's water sources are polluted or thewater level falls in the future, the region would lack sufficient water,he added.
Because long water pipelines can easily cause waterlosses, the best method to use would be artificial aquifer recharge(AR), which is common in many countries.
With AR, naturalgroundwater supplies are enhanced by using man-made conveyances such asinfiltration basins or injection wells, according to the USEnvironmental Protection Agency.
Tuan said that Vietnamese researchers should seriously consider using the AR method.
TomKompier, First Secretary for water and climate at the Embassy of theNetherlands, said his country was located at the end of a river systemin a very fertile plain and has huge agricultural potential, just likeVietnam's Mekong Delta.
"Climate change is of great concern to us," he said.
Not all of its impacts are negative, but there is ample cause for worry, he said.
The sea-level is rising, weather patterns are shifting, and discharge from the rivers is changing.
"Weneed to prepare for floods on the one hand and water shortages on theother. I am sure this sounds familiar, because these are major concernsin Vietnam, too," he said.
The Netherlands focuses on the important relations between water management and the ability to adapt to climate change.
"Weknow that climate change is happening, we know its direction, but whatwe don't know is how fast change will be. We also know that dealing withclimate change is going to cost a lot of money, but we realise ourfunds are limited," he added.
"In the Netherlands, we also haveabundant fresh water, but not the entire year. Like Vietnam, we haveproblems with subsidence and with increased salinisation," Kompier said.
One innovation to deal with water scarcity is the introduction of service levels, he said.
Thenational and local government, utilities, and users would discuss whatthe maximum sustainable level of water supply should be, and practicalwater use during periods of scarcity, he added.
The seminar is part of a project on climate-change preparedness for public water utilities.
Begunlast year, the four-year project is carried out by a partnership ofwater utilities, provincial governments and academic institutions inVietnam and the Netherlands.
VitensEvides International (VEI), ajoint venture of the two largest public water utilities of theNetherlands, is the lead partner.-VNA
