POSSIBLE INTERVENTIONS TO PROTECT THE MEKONG DELTA
Actions people take to influence processes. These actions can influence processes both positively and negatively, based on the location and conditions.
HARD INFRASTRUCTURE
Hydraulic infrastructure, this is the most mature and best-funded intervention domain - Vietnam has been building irrigation and drainage infrastructure in Mekong Delta since the 1970s, and the existing canal network covering ~6,000 km of primary channels and ~40,000 km of secondary channels represents an enormous installed asset. The question is no longer whether to invest in hydraulic infrastructure, but what generation of infrastructure to build and where to place the salinity boundary it defends.
Sea dikes, breakwaters, sluice gates, and canalization; the four structures form a hierarchy of intervention scales — from the macro-scale coastal perimeter (sea dikes and breakwaters) to the network-scale flow control (sluice gates and canalization). Each solves a different physical problem, and each carries distinct engineering constraints when applied to the soft, subsiding sediments of VMD.
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Artificial channels that deliver water to crops
Canalization
NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS
Approaches that use natural systems for protection and adaptation
Adding sediment to rebuild eroding coasts
Sediment nourishment
POLICY AGREEMENTS
Rules, plans and incentives made by governments or communities
Rules for using water in the ground
Groundwater regulation
Organizing land for farming, housing and nature
Land-use planning
Rules for mining and protecting river beds
Sediment management policies
Incentives for communities to preserve mangroves
Payment for keeping mangrove forests
Plans to adjust to climate change impacts