How can Vietnam, a country with tropical climate and two big river deltas, face water shortage challenges? In Insight 2023/2024 (10 August 2023), Channel News Asia brought to viewers the environmental, political, economic and social factors that precipitate Vietnam’s water insecurity today.
Amongst the experts interviewed was Asst Prof Edward Park from NIE who highlighted the compounding impacts of dams, climate change and pollution on the Mekong and Red rivers.

Prof Duong Van Ni, the President of Mekong Conservancy Foundation and Lecturer at Can Tho University, elucidated the five influences on water resources: quantity, quality, linkage, variability, and culture. The episode went on to report how there is no place in Vietnam where water has all five values.

Interviews with locals revealed how the changing conditions induce them to adjust their habits to maintain the sustainability of agriculture. To meet rapidly increasing demand for water, the government faces a race against time to build water treatment plants to increase usable surface water.

Click here to watch the 46-minute episode online.