Mekong Delta "Floating Flatpack", 5th. semester project

CHALLENGES FOR THE LIVELIHOODS AT MEKONG DELTA
OVERVIEW OF CHALLENGES IN THE AREA
Areas of Southeast Asia are highly susceptible to sea level rise: 3.3% of the world’s landmass
is in this region yet it accounts for 11% of the world’s coastline (New York Times).
One such area is the Mekong River Delta in Southern Vietnam.
If the sea level increased by 0.9m, over 30% of the delta would be submerged and up to
17 million people would potentially be at risk of flooding. Although these estimates fail to
account for preventative measures (such as dikes), such barriers are often the source of
additional concerns due to their retention of industrial wastewater, fertilizers, and pesticides
- the accumulation of which can be harmful to agricultural activities in the river delta
(New York Times). The Mekong Delta is perpetually exposed to flood risk as it lies only
slightly above sea level. Floods occur annually, typically in the wet season. The four main
components of this flooding are flood water carried downstream by the Mekong River;
high intensity localized rainfall over a short period; tidal floods due to storms and high
tides and human intervention.
In recent years, a growing concern for many has been flooding related to the management
of hydropower dams upstream (Duong et al.). However, it’s important to be mindful that
some flooding is an important component of maintaining the fertility of farmlands and
aquatic farms in the Mekong. Overall, it’s estimated that 85% of the population in the
Mekong Delta rely on it for their livelihood (New York Times). When flooding does occur,
the mean annual economic losses are USD $71 million in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam
and USD $88 million in the Lower Mekong Basin in Thailand (Mekong River Commission,
2018).
SERVERE FLOODS AND THE THREAD OF
SEA LEVEL RISE
In 2011, the Mekong Delta experienced one of the most severe flood events in the past
decade. The Cambodian floodplain and Mekong Delta were both inundated. A total of
265 fatalities were reported, with at least 449,000 houses damaged and an estimated
economic loss of USD $600 million (Mekong River Commission, 2015).
The rising sea level is threatening the livelihoods of many who rely on the fertile delta of
the Lower Mekong Basin. On various occasions, the dikes built by the Vietnamese government
have successfully prevented saltwater intrusion into the farms owned by locals.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the same protection for their land. Numerous homes
are not protected by the dikes, resulting in occasions where sea inundation has occurred
and drowned mangroves and eucalyptus trees (Mekong River Commission, 2016).
One of the principle reasons for this risk is that the lower basin has an average elevation
of only 2–4m above Mean Sea Level. Climate change estimates foresee sea levels rising
by 0.8–1m by 2100 and as a result, 38% of the delta may be inundated. For many, the
worst-case scenario for the delta is a high astronomical tide coinciding with major flooding
of the Mekong (Mekong River Commission, 2016).
AGRICULTURE AS THE CORNERSTONE
FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH IN DANGER
Agriculture is a cornerstone of economic growth in the Lower Mekong River Basin
(LMB), providing livelihoods for more than 65 million people in the basin. Farming is
the primary occupation of the rural areas of each lower Mekong country. Between 2011
and 2014, the numbers of people engaged in farming have increased in Cambodia,
Thailand, and Viet Nam by an average 9 percent to 6.9 million, whereas the total number
of farmers in Lao PDR has appeared to decline from 238,000 to a little over 15,000.