Seeking to ensure water security in Mekong Delta

A boat moves across a bridge for the Chinese high-speed rail over the Mekong River, north of the Laotian city of Luang Prabang on Dec. 12, 2023. Laos has grown increasingly beholden to its giant neighbor to the north with massive amounts of debt to Chinese state banks for multiple infrastructure projects, including a new high-speed rail line across the country, said Muhammad Faizal, with the Institute of Defense and Strategic studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. (AP Photo/David Rising)

HANOI: The Mekong Delta is the largest rice production area in Vietnam, but adverse impacts from natural and human-induced changes in the Mekong River have led to growing concerns over water security in the region.

With nearly 95% of the river’s flow in the country coming from abroad, the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta is vulnerable to environmental changes across the region, and especially from hydropower development in the river’s upstream area, according to the deputy chief of the Standing Office of the Vietnam Mekong River Commission Nguyen Hong Phuong.