Proposed Adaptation Measures for Saltwater Intrusion in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

The Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) plays an extremely important and central role in the country's food security. The influences of the upstream dam's development, sea-level rise, and complicated tidal regime in the dry season have caused barriers and constraints for local agricultural activities in VMD. Once these causes combined climate change, the salinity intensity is more severe, and intrusion length is likely further in seven Mekong estuaries. The purpose of this study to propose mitigation and adaptation measures for saltwater intrusion (SI) for sustainable agricultural development in the Mekong estuary areas. The relationship between Q ~ S and Q ~ L has been built to predict the S and L along five of seven branches. Also, the boundary between freshwater—brackish—saltwater zone also was proposed for planning the land use and water use. Moreover, the location of salinity monitoring stations, as well as the kinds of saltwater control works, is also discussed to serve the operation of saline control works based on analysis of field measurement data. The study will be very meaningful for local farmers to select crops that are adaptable with the different saltwater values or change land use and cultivation models for higher yields.