VietNamNet Bridge - HCM City is rated as one of the 10 cities worldwide that are most severely affected from climate change, and in Vietnam, it is only the Mekong Delta in terms of suffering from climate change.

Disasters have been exposed

Super storms, heavy flooding attack Vietnam

Floods caused by flood-tide in HCM City.

Many reports showed the increasing trends of flood tides in the city due to the effects of climate change, which is evident from 2006.

In 2010, flood-tide in the city suddenly surged up to 1.58 m high and it swept away the Rach Dia dike in Thu Duc district so that many households could not timely run away.

The city officials said it was the highest tide in 50 years. The local government had to cooperate with the Dau Tieng reservoir in Dong Nai province to monitor water discharge because if the reservoir discharged water, HCM City would have been in danger.

Since then, the city began witnessing landmarks of flood tide. In 2011, the tide peaked at 1.59 m. In 2012, it peaked at 1.61m and in October 2013, it broke a record with 1.68 m.

Along with speed rapid urbanization, climate change is the cause of the abnormal changes of weather.

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), only 15%-20% of HCM City’s area is higher than the sea level by 1-2 m and 45 % -50 % of the area is 0-1 m higher than the sea level. Thus, most of the city area would be severely hurt when sea level rises.

The latest climate change scenario of Natural Resources and Environment Ministry show that if the sea level rises by 1 meter, 20 % of the city’s area will be flooded and 9 % of the population will be affected. Districts 2, 9, Binh Tan, Can Gio, Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon and Cu Chi will be most affected.

Also, the city witnessed an extreme weather phenomenon: unusually hot spells in April 2012 and 2013, with many children and adults being hospitalized for heat.

Sea water "assaults" river water

Climate change and sea level rise result in salinization. In recent years, the water plants in Ho Chi Minh City have had to "call for help" because saltwater intrusion affected water quality and water treatment costs.

The 2010-2011 period is considered the peak of the difficulties of the water supply industry in HCM City because of saltwater intrusion. There were times that the salinity was up to 270 mg/liter compared to 250 mg/liter under Vietnam standards. As a result, the Tan Hiep and Thu Duc Water Plants had to operate moderately and were at risk of closure.

To address this situation, the Tan Hiep Water Plant had to ask the Dau Tieng-Phuoc Hoa Irrigation Company to discharge water from the Phuoc Hoa reservoir to push out salt water through estuaries.

Hard to avoid water shortage

Currently, though the HCM City City Water Supply Corporation has signed a contract with Dau Tieng – Phuoc Hoa Irrigation Company on water discharge to push back salty water but it is still considered a temporary solution.

Because with the extraordinary changes of weather, the rainfall is decreasing. The upstream reservoirs all store water, making the water output to the Dau Tieng Reservoir tend to reduce. Moreover, Dau Tieng reservoir’s water quality is seriously polluted. Thus, the lack of fresh water is unavoidable if the city does not have a plan to seek alternate sources of water.

According to Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, former Director of the Institute of Southern Irrigation Planning, salty water has reached the Hoa An estuary of the Dong Nai River.

Vietnam leads the world for seafood losses

A report of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) shows that in 2015, around 135,000 households in Vietnam may have to be resettled because of environmental reasons.

Particularly, in the Mekong Delta, by 2050, up to 1 million people may have to be resettled because of flooding and drought. The people in the areas with poor drainage systems and poor flood and storm prevention systems are the most vulnerable and they may have to relocate temporarily or permanently. The cities and industrial parks in the region will be also significantly affected.

Vietnam currently ranks first on the list of countries with fisheries losses due to climate change, with the damage of about $1.5 billion in 2010 and it may increase to $25 billion in 2030.

NLD