Vietnam’s freshwater obsession leaves decades-long scars for Mekong Delta farmers

Résumé détaillé

BÌNH ĐẠI, Vietnam — For centuries, the Mekong River emptied into the South China Sea through nine vast estuaries, earning it the name Cửu Long, Vietnamese for “Nine Dragons.” In…

BÌNH ĐẠI, Vietnam — For centuries, the Mekong River emptied into the South China Sea through nine vast estuaries, earning it the name Cửu Long, Vietnamese for “Nine Dragons.” In the 1960s, natural deposition of sand swallowed the first dragon, the Bassac River. Now, human-made infrastructure is choking the second, the Ba Lai River.

More than two decades after a sluice gate began operating near the mouth of the Ba Lai River in southern Vietnam, the river has turned into a stagnant lake, trapping pollutants and accelerating coastal erosion.

Intended to protect the region from salinity, the megastructure has created problems and triggered conflicts between local farmers and authorities, sparking semi-open resistance that further destabilizes this already climate-vulnerable area.

On a cloudy day in September, Nguyên, a shrimp farmer in Bình Đại commune in Vĩnh Long province, calculates when he should harvest his shrimp as he prepares to feed his two ponds. During the rainy season, water pollution is his primary concern, and a miscalculation can wipe out his entire stock.

“This month, the sluice discharges water on the eighth, ninth, 21st, and 22nd, so I will harvest my shrimp on the fifth or sixth,” says Nguyên, which is not his real name. He asks to use a pseudonym due to the sensitive nature of the issue.

“Fruit farmers in the freshwater zone use tons of pesticides and herbicides,” Nguyên tells Mongabay. “The chemicals linger on the ground. When it rains, the runoff flows into canals and the river, heavily contaminating the water with accumulated toxins.”

The Ba Lai sluice gate, which began operating in 2002, was built to prevent saltwater infiltration and retain freshwater for rice farmers in the upper course of the river. It was to convert the Ba Lai River into a year-round freshwater reservoir for Bến Tre City and four surrounding districts — Châu Thành, Bình Đại, Giồng Trôm and Ba Tri — shielding them from marine tides.

The infrastructure, which cost 67 billion dong ($4.

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