A two-year pilot project has provided policy makers in the southern province of Long An with alternative ways to handle climate change and its related threats.
Co-funded by the Dutch government (79 per cent), Long An Province (19 per cent), and the International Water Governance Centre (2 per cent), the 385,000 euro (US$495,000) project "Participation in Climate Adaptation" offered measures to fight floods, saltwater intrusion, drought and water pollution.
The pilot area covered the southern coastal districts of Can Duoc, Can Giuoc, Chau Thanh, and Tan Tru, where floods from upstream combined with high tides from the East Sea (via the Soai Rap estuary) can lead to severe inundation.
Dr Patrick Huntjens, director of the Water Partner Foundation and the project leader, said:
"The strategy offers a consensus-based mixture of measures. These include completing and upgrading the dyke systems and creating more room for rivers and nature to increase their resilience and the water discharge capacity of the Vam Co River Basin as a whole." "It also provides a variety of measures for optimising water supplies, including rainwater collection, sustainable groundwater exploitation, point-of-use conservation, water-saving technology in irrigation, and sewage and wastewater treatment."
This is one of the first projects in Viet Nam to introduce a comprehensive approach for full-scale and meaningful participation by relevant stakeholders at different levels for developing a climate-change-adaptation strategy.