The Mekong Delta System

This book about the Mekong Delta presents a unique collection of state-of-the-art contributions by international experts from different scientific disciplines about the characteristics and pressing water-related challenges of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. The Mekong Delta belongs to one of the areas, which are to expect the largest challenges concerning environmental change and climate change induced sea level rise . The Delta acts as the “rice bowl” of Southeast Asia and is home to over 17 Million people, who need to cope with ecologic as well as socio-economic changes linked to the rapid economic development of the country. Annual floods, severe droughts, salt water intrusion, degrading water quality, tropical cyclones, hydrologic changes due to hydropower projects in the upstream of the Mekong, coastal erosion, and the loss of biodiversity are some of the problems in the region. Heterogeneous resource management responsibilities, and the fact that the Mekong – and thus also the Delta – is influenced by six countries aggravate the situation. Integrated water resources management and fostered cooperation and information exchange are pressing needs for the sustainable development of the Delta.

The Mekong Delta of Vietnam is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. The Mekong River fans out over an area of about 40,000 sq kilometers and over the course of many millennia has produced a region of fertile alluvial soils and constant flows of energy. Today about a fourth of the Delta is under rice cultivation, making this area one of the premier rice granaries in the world. The Delta has always proven a difficult environment to manipulate, however, and because of population pressures, increasing acidification of soils, and changes in the Mekong’s flow, environmental problems have intensified. The changing way in which the region has been linked to larger flows of commodities and capital over time has also had an impact on the region: For example, its re-emergence in recent decades as a major rice-exporting area has linked it inextricably to global markets and their vicissitudes. And most recently, the potential for sea level increases because of global warming has added a new threat. Because most of the region is on average only a few meters above sea level and because any increase of sea level will change the complex relationship between tides and down-river water flow, the Mekong Delta is one of the areas in the world most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. How governmental policy and resident populations have in the past and will in coming decades adapt to climate change as well as several other emerging or ongoing environmental and economic problems is the focus of this collection.

The Mekong Delta of Vietnam is extremely vulnerable to floods and, therefore, the establishment of dike systems is generally considered an appropriate approach to flood control. Based on intensive field work in the heart of the Delta, this dissertation investigates current dike planning practices, as well as its implementation at district and commune levels. The research reveals numerous shortcomings with regard to planning and shows that the dike system also produces adverse negative impacts on the ecosystems and livelihoods. Dissertation. (Series: ZEF Development Studies - Vol. 18)

This research aims to investigate the prevailing sediment dynamics and the sediment budget in the Mekong Delta by using a process-based model. Understanding sediment dynamics for the Mekong Delta requires high resolution analysis and detailed data, which is a challenge for managers and scientists. This study introduces such an approach and focuses on modeling the entire system with a process-based approach with Delft3D-4 and Delft3D Flexible Mesh (DFM). The first model is used to explore sediment dynamics at the coastal zone. The latter model allows straightforward coupling of 1D and 2D grids, making it suitable for analyzing the complex river and canal network of the Mekong Delta. The validated model suggests that the Mekong Delta receives ~99 Mt/year sediment from the Mekong River. This is much lower than the common estimate of 160 Mt/year. Only about 23% of the modelled total sediment load at Kratie is exported to the sea. The remaining portion is trapped in the rivers and floodplains of the Mekong Delta. The results advance understanding of sediment dynamics and sediment budget in the Mekong Delta. As such the model is an efficient tool to support delta management and planning.

The Mekong River Basin: Ecohydrological Complexity from Catchment to Coast, Volume Three presents real facts, data and predictions for quantifying human-induced changes throughout the Mekong watershed, including its estuaries and coasts, and proposes solutions to decrease or mitigate the negative effect and enable sustainable development. This is the first work to link socio–ecological interaction study over the whole Mekong River basin through the lens of ecohydrology. Each chapter is written by a leading expert, with coverage on climate change, groundwater, land use, flooding drought, biodiversity and anthropological issues. Human activities are enormous in the whole watershed and are still increasing throughout the catchment, with severe negative impacts on natural resources are emerging. Among these activities, hydropower dams, especially a series of 11 dams in China, are the most critical as they generate massive changes throughout the system, including in the delta and to the livelihoods of millions of people and they threaten sustainability. Presents an extensive collection of eco-hydrological changes in the river basin driven by both nature and anthropological factors Provides state of the art modeling, data analysis methodologies for complex socio-ecological complexity applied in the Mekong river basin Includes specific cases of ecohydrology in the river basin, especially from the Mekong delta

Winner of the 2012 George Perkins Marsh Prize for Best Book in Environmental History In the twentieth century, the Mekong Delta has emerged as one of Vietnam’s most important economic regions. Its swamps, marshes, creeks, and canals have played a major role in Vietnam’s turbulent past, from the struggles of colonialism to the Cold War and the present day. Quagmire considers these struggles, their antecedents, and their legacies through the lens of environmental history. Beginning with the French conquest in the 1860s, colonial reclamation schemes and pacification efforts centered on the development of a dense network of new canals to open land for agriculture. These projects helped precipitate economic and environmental crises in the 1930s, and subsequent struggles after 1945 led to the balkanization of the delta into a patchwork of regions controlled by the Viet Minh, paramilitary religious sects, and the struggling Franco-Vietnamese government. After 1954, new settlements were built with American funds and equipment in a crash program intended to solve continuing economic and environmental problems. Finally, the American military collapse in Vietnam is revealed as not simply a failure of policy makers but also a failure to understand the historical, political, and environmental complexity of the spaces American troops attempted to occupy and control. By exploring the delta as a quagmire in both natural and political terms, Biggs shows how engineered transformations of the Mekong Delta landscape - channelized rivers, a complex canal system, hydropower development, deforestation - have interacted with equally complex transformations in the geopolitics of the region. Quagmire delves beyond common stereotypes to present an intricate, rich history that shows how closely political and ecological issues are intertwined in the human interactions with the water environment in the Mekong Delta. Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp1-UItZqsk

The Mekong is the most controversial river in Southeast Asia, and increasingly the focus of international attention. It flows through 6 counties, China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam. The 4 downstream countries have formed the Mekong River Commission to promote sustainable development of the river and many of their people depend on it for their subsistence ? it has possible the largest freshwater fishery in the world, and the Mekong waters support rice agriculture in the delta in Viet Nam (which produces about 40% of that country's food) as well as in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. China is now building the first large mainstream dam on the river, and has proposals for several more. These dams are likely to affect the downstream countries. Several of the downstream countries also have plans for large scale hydropower and irrigation development which could also impact the river. This book will provide a solid overview of the biophysical environment of the Mekong together with a discussion of the possible impacts, biophysical, economic and social, of some possible development scenarios. It is intended to provide a technical basis which can inform the growing political and conservation debate about the future of the Mekong River, and those who depend on it. It is aimed at river ecologists, geographers, environmentalists and development specialists both in the basin and (especially) outside for whom access to this material is most difficult. This book will be the first comprehensive treatment of the Mekong system. The first comprehensive overview of all aspects of the Mekong River system Deals with a regionally critical ecosystem and one under threat The Mekong supports the world's largest freshwater fishery and provides water underpinning a major regional rice paddy system Presents the authoritative findings of the Mekong River Commission's research for a wider audience for the first time outside of limited distribution reports

This research aims to investigate the prevailing sediment dynamics and the sediment budget in the Mekong Delta by using a process-based model. Understanding sediment dynamics for the Mekong Delta requires high resolution analysis and detailed data, which is a challenge for managers and scientists. This study introduces such an approach and focuses on modeling the entire system with a process-based approach with Delft3D-4 and Delft3D Flexible Mesh (DFM). The first model is used to explore sediment dynamics at the coastal zone. The latter model allows straightforward coupling of 1D and 2D grids, making it suitable for analyzing the complex river and canal network of the Mekong Delta. The validated model suggests that the Mekong Delta receives 99 Mt/year sediment from the Mekong River. This is much lower than the common estimate of 160 Mt/year. Only about 23% of the modelled total sediment load at Kratie is exported to the sea. The remaining portion is trapped in the rivers and floodplains of the Mekong Delta. The results advance understanding of sediment dynamics and sediment budget in the Mekong Delta. As such the model is an efficient tool to support delta management and planning.