A farmer collects water from an almost exhausted source in Ha Tien Town, Kien Giang Province. The Mekong Delta faces great challenges in using scarce water resources due to increased population, expansion of irrigated areas and construction of hydropower projects. — VNA/VNS Photo Khuong Duy

NINH BINH (VNS) — More efforts must be made to efficiently manage and use scarce water resources of the Mekong River as climate change and rapid development to produce electricity have threatened its sustainability.

…The Mekong River Commission, an intergovernmental group known as MRC, estimates that by 2013, there were at least 77 hydropower projects planned on Mekong River’s tributaries and 11 mainstream hydropower projects/dams planned in the Lower Mekong Basin, which is home to more than 60 million people.

According to the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), a multilateral international organisation working with countries to discover and realise their green growth potential, the adverse impacts from man-made developments and consequent environment changes have forced affected countries to further enhance protection for water.

Dr. Imran Habib Ahmad, Director of East Asia and Pacific of GGGI, said the gap between global demand for fresh water resources and available supply was expected to be about 40 per cent in 2030 and the Mekong River Basin was not an exception to this challenge.

Since October 2013, GGGI has been working closely with VNMC to develop and apply a systematic approach to water resources management in the Mekong Delta.

Juhern Kim, a senior advisor with GGGI, said some of the challenges that must be tackled in water resources management in the Mekong Delta included overexploitation of water resources, lax law enforcement for parties that pollute water resources and lack of job opportunities to boost the development of the Mekong Delta.

Read the full article from Viet Nam News.