Transformed waterscapes in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, Dr. Thong Tran

Southeast Asia Forum: Flooding in Southeast Asia - Causes, Consequences, and Policy Challenges Transformed waterscapes in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: Unravelling political relations between water management and adaptation, Dr. Thong Tran (The Australian National University) This paper reflects on how the waterscapes in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) have changed under the compounding impacts of climate change, upstream hydropower development, and local water infrastructure interventions (dykes) for intensified agricultural production over the past decades. It unravels the political spaces in which state-led water management and farmer-led adaptation have evolved and interacted with each other over time, with the particular focus on the floodplains and the coastal zones of the delta. While infrastructural development gains legitimacy as a key approach to deal with floods and enable farm-based livelihoods (mostly rice) of rural households in the floodplains, it conversely constrains the aspirations of coastal communities in pursuit of traditional livelihoods (shrimp) that bring comparatively higher incomes. The paper illuminates how power asymmetries are embedded in the management of water resources across the ecological zones, and how they shape community adaptation on the ground. Essentially, rural communities are forced to adapt to changing environmental conditions driven by such pro-infrastructure development policies and implement various adaptation strategies to meet their needs. The paper concludes by demonstrating an ongoing paradigm shift in policy directions from food security towards water security to address water scarcity threatening resource-based livelihoods in the delta.