Mekong Delta Drought Crisis

The Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam, and the country’s southern-central highland areas, is suffering a crippling drought. Record low water levels in the delta is also causing saltwater intrusion that is wiping out crops and contaminating drinking water supplies.

The humanitarian and economic impacts are becoming increasingly dire. Government authorities estimate almost half a million households lack fresh drinking water and are experiencing food shortages. More than a million hectares of crops have been destroyed due to either a lack of water for irrigation or contamination by saltwater. It is estimated the drought could pull the country’s projected GDP growth this year down by a full percentage point.

People have pointed to numerous causes converging to create the current situation, including inconsistent rainfall caused by climate change, the El Nino weather pattern, and the numerous upstream hydropower dams on the Mekong River.

A farmer drills a well to get water on drought-hit rice field in the southern Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang on March 2, 2016. Vietnam is suffering its worst drought in nearly a century hitting farmers especially hard in the crucial southern Mekong delta. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam all share stretches of the river system that begins in the Tibetan plateau and runs for over 3,000 miles to the South China Sea. All of these countries met last month to discuss the crisis, with calls made for China, Laos and Thailand to reconsider new dam or water-diversion projects.

So while the immediate humanitarian and economic effects are obvious, what implications does a continuing climate crisis have for potential conflict in this part of Asia? These sorts of questions can sound somewhat alarmist, but policymakers and governments around the word are asking just these sorts of questions.

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China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam all share stretches of the river system that begins in the Tibetan plateau and runs for over 3,000 miles to the South China Sea. All of these countries met last month to discuss the crisis, with calls made for China, Laos and Thailand to reconsider new dam or water-diversion projects.

So while the immediate humanitarian and economic effects are obvious, what implications does a continuing climate crisis have for potential conflict in this part of Asia? These sorts of questions can sound somewhat alarmist, but policymakers and governments around the word are asking just these sorts of questions.

Source: Frobes

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