Introduction to Groundwater Management Roles in Addressing Salinity Intrusion and Land Subsidence in the Mekong Delta

See the full agenda and speaker bibliographies here and download all presentations here.

Research and studies have found that over-extraction of groundwater is one of the main activities leading to land subsidence and salinity intrusion problems in the Mekong Delta. In addition, the emergence of climate-related disasters and change of weather patterns have also exacerbated drought conditions and accelerated the deterioration of environmental resources. While many mitigation approaches have been introduced and adopted, there is still an urgent need to build better understanding of Mekong Delta ecosystems and sustainable use of resources, and to share and exchange lessons learned and best practices among stakeholders, resource users, and academic and expert communities in the Mekong Delta. 

The Vietnam Water Resource Institute (WRI), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), the Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership (SIP), Pact Thailand, NexView, and United States Geological Survey (USGS), with the support of the US Department of State (DOS),  are working in partnership to prepare the first training workshop on ‘Introduction to Sustainable Groundwater Management in the Mekong Delta, Viet Nam,’ to be held in Can Tho Province, September 28-30, 2020. The training workshop will build fundamental capacity in groundwater management among key stakeholders in the Delta and has three key objectives. 

1. To build better understanding of issues and practices related to groundwater management, salinity intrusion, and land subsidence in the Mekong Delta.
2. To enhance capacity in sustainable groundwater management for the Mekong Delta among key stakeholders from local communities, experts and project implementers to decision makers and policy makers; and 
3. To promote stakeholder collaboration and identify potential opportunities for joint planning and participatory actions in sustainable groundwater management.