Vietnam s Mekong Delta Water Resources Project Future

1 Background Southeast of the Mekong River in Vietnam Delta Is an area of about 39,000 square kilometers of farmland, the main crop is rice. Mid-90s of the 20th century, the delta's agricultural output accounts for 30% of Vietnam's GDP over the country, and the rice over the country's rice exports total more than 80% of exports, exports of Vietnam to become the world's larger countries rice one. The mouth of the Mekong River Basin in the year can be more abundant rainfall, many parts of the rice Nengchan three quarters of the year. However, in the lower Mekong delta zone is not the case, where serious water intrusion agricultural land, reducing the dry period can be used fresh, and because the drainage system behind, but also easy to form large floods, which makes farmers life more difficult, some farmers to become Vietnam's poor, drinking water, salt water and acidic water is often polluted. Vietnamese mekong delta tour with homestay Delta Water Resources project aims to realize the change in agricultural production and rural poverty, improve, or re-construction of key water control infrastructure, agricultural land to prevent seawater intrusion, improved irrigation, drainage, flood control and drinking water supply system, which requires a comprehensive, integrated measures to complete, in addition to the infrastructure, the delta's water resource management also includes other content.





1996, the Vietnamese Government and relevant organizations to develop the formation of the "water factor", stressed the water infrastructure on the importance of agriculture and rural development in 1998, the new water law to establish a line of water based on water and framework for unified management of resources, and bring a lot of the Mekong River Delta project opportunities, Delta water project is one of them.





2, Project Description Mekong Delta project implementation in 1999-2007, the main purpose is to increase the region's agricultural output, reduce rural poverty and improve the living conditions of farmers and the establishment of the Mekong Delta Water Resources Development and Management. Project has three components: 1) improve water infrastructure projects, such as irrigation, flood control and salinity control, an area of 535,000 hectares, the main purpose is to yield only in the past year or two products to achieve productive agricultural regions of instability and planted a variety of crops. 2) more than 280,000 rural drinking water supply to farmers, through wells, water Pump And piping systems to provide drinking water to rural communities and to improve water sanitation in these areas, focusing on community demand-driven water supply, community participation in planning and implementation of water projects, and subsidies. 3) to strengthen implementation of the project provinces and the mekong delta tour with homestay Delta water resources planning and management and monitoring.





3, project results have the following results of the project





Increased the Mekong Delta of fresh water supply and strengthening of sea water intrusion and flood control, irrigation system 76 has been improved, in order to build a flood control diversion gate 41 major and 125 sub-major flood diversion gates, excavation and expansion of the canal more than 1000 km, newly built 230 kilometers of dikes, so that against the town from flooding.





Shift the form of agricultural plant species and have high economic value crops and a multi-purpose crops, such as rice and shrimp. Two seasons of rice cultivation to rice production from 1999 to 4.7 tons per hectare to 5.3 tons per 2007 hectares of rice area of the fish and shrimp aquaculture production increased to 3 times the original, more than 760,000 of the rural population through the construction of small-scale water supply systems and point-derived water points, have access to safe drinking water. 35,000 families for the construction of the water level health facilities, construction in the project area, access to safe drinking water and basic water sanitation increased from 30% in 1999 increased to 85% in 2007, which is conducive to improving the lives of farmers level, water sanitation and Delta water quality downstream.





An average of 1.2 hectares of cultivated land of family farmers in the annual income of 631 U.S. dollars from 1999 to 2826 U.S. dollars in 2007, increased revenue to enable farmers to repay loans for water infrastructure investment and payment of water taxes, water and crops, the family be combined with water supply, helps to reduce per capita water inputs, especially in remote rural areas.





Established a river basin organizations, to promote the parties Cooperation Water planning and water management practices.





4, Revelation water resources management in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, the successful experience tells us that:





Water resources project planning should be flexible, to users or water resources management under the new requirements of the beneficiaries to make timely adjustments and evaluation of identification. The process of project implementation, project planning has been constantly revised, for example, the construction and operation of flood gates, saline and changes in cropping patterns.





Project implementation will increase the dispersion of responsibility and coordination of local government capacity, drinking water and water sanitation in rural areas the main reason for success of the project implementation responsibility to the provincial rural water development centers, by contract, the community and the establishment of water companies contact the water company to provide technical support.





Success of the project is also inseparable from local farmers and institutions around the measures and policies, in particular, allow the water project beneficiaries to participate in project planning and implementation.





Future End of the project, should also be noted the establishment and training capacity of local maintenance and operation, as the project construction process abolished the previous irrigation water services, so the new irrigation system operation and maintenance of the higher cost, the mekong delta homestay tour Delta alone , the irrigation farmers to pay less than the increase in income.





The seawall, flood gates to further invest in is conducive to resolving the problems caused by climate change, for example, more severe droughts, floods and rising sea levels and so on.





On agriculture, market, information technology, increased investment in irrigation infrastructure to maximize the impact.