Environmental Risk in Water Resources Management in the Mekong Delta: A Multi-Scale Analysis.

Abstract: “In this chapter risk is a central theme in the exploration of ideas and actions related to water in the Mekong Delta, with the social, spatial and scalar distribution of risk of primary concern. Agricultural development in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta has historically been framed by the state as a struggle to overcome the two environmental risks of salinity intrusion and flooding. Yet, despite the construction of a dense network of canals over recent centuries, particularly during the period of French colonialism, the experience of war andinternational economic isolation has meant large-scale investment in water infrastructure to ‘close off’ and ‘protect’ the delta from salinity intrusion and flooding has been delayed until recent times.
Locality: Global