Water & Waste Management

Research commissioned by Vietnam has warned of devastating environmental and economic effects for millions of people living along the Mekong River if 11 proposed dams are built. The two and a half year study by Danish water expert DHI was submitted recently by Vietnam to the Mekong River Commission, a body encompassing Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos that was set up to mediate the conflicting water priorities of Mekong countries. The commission released a five-page summary of the study yesterday.

Farmers in Dak Lak province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands are now threatened with losing their entire rice and coffee crops to severe drought.
The unrelenting heat has caused 599 reservoirs of Dak Lak Provice in the Central Highlands to reach critical condition.
Of these, 118 gave already dried up completely, three times as many as last year, with severe consequences for local agriculture, said local officials in a press conference held by the provincial People’s Committee on Monday.

The water levels in reservoirs in a south-central Vietnamese province have plummeted significantly due to prolonged drought in summer-fall, bringing serious consequences to local agriculture. The statement was made by the Binh Dinh Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on Wednesday at a conference on drought prevention during the period. The department noted that the water levels in 161 reservoirs have rapidly declined at an average pace of two million cubic meters per week due to prolonged drought weather conditions.

Xylem has been awarded a $1.7 million contract with Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to design and supply advanced water pumping technologies as a key component of a significant irrigation project in Vietnam.