Save the Mekong Delta from drowning

Journal Article · Thu May 05 00:00:00 UTC 2022 · Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm5176· OSTI ID:2375789

Kondolf, G. Mathaias ^[1]; Schmitt, Rafael P. ^[2]; Carling, Paul A. ^[3]; Goichot, Marc ^[4]; Keskinen, Marko ^[5]; Arias, Mauricio E. ^[6]; Bizzi, Simone ^[7]; Castelletti, Andrea F. ^[8]; Cochrane, Thomas A. ^[9]; Darby, Stephen E. ^[3]; Kummu, Matti ^[5]; Minderhoud, Philip S. ^[10]; Nguyen, Dan ^[11]; Nguyen, Huu Thien ^[12]; Nguyen, Ngoc Tran ^[13]; Oeurng, Chantha ^[14]; Opperman, Jeff ^[15]; Rubin, Zan ^[16]; San, Dinh Cong ^[17]; Schmeier, Susanne ^[18] ; Wild, Thomas B. ^[19]

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
2. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
3. University of Southampton (United Kingdom)
4. World Wide Fund for Nature Asia Pacific, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
5. Aalto Univ., Espoo (Finland)
6. Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL (United States)
7. University of Padova, Padua (Italy)
8. Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
9. Univ. of Canterbury, Christchurch (New Zealand)
10. Wageningen Univ. (Netherlands); University of Padova (Italy); Deltares Research Institute, Utrecht (Netherlands)
11. Université PARIS-EST, Chatou (France). Laboratory for Hydraulics Saint-Venant
12. Freelancing Delta Ecologist, Can Tho (Vietnam)
13. Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
14. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Institute of Technology of Cambodia, Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
15. World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC (United States)
16. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Balance Hydrologics, Berkeley, CA (United States)
17. Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
18. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft (Netherlands)
19. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)

Owing to only a few decades of human influence and unsustainable management of the Mekong River basin’s natural resources, the Mekong Delta is receding rapidly. Most of the delta landform, home to 17 million people and an economic powerhouse, could slip below sea level by 2100. Avoiding such a catastrophic impact will require concerted actions that acknowledge root causes for land loss and the global importance of the delta landform. Deltas persist and grow if sediment supply from an upstream river basin builds delta land at the same or greater rates than land is submerged by relative sea level rise and erosion. Further, with more rapid sea level rise, more sediment resources are needed to maintain the current extent of the delta. Only improved coordination of governance and investments, informed by science, will provide the delta with those critical resources.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 2375789
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA--167228
• Journal Information: Science, Journal Name: Science Journal Issue: 6593 Vol. 376; ISSN 0036-8075
• Publisher: AAAS
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Deltas
Vietnam
dam effects
delta management
erosion
groundwater pumping
saltwater intrusion
sand mining
sediment budget
sediment starvation
subsidence