Background

The Mekong Delta Integrated Climate Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods (ICRSL) Project is a US$387 million initiative by the Government of Vietnam and the World Bank. The project aims to enhance tools for climate-smart planning and improve climate resilience of land and water management practices in selected provinces of the Mekong delta in Vietnam.

The Mekong Delta is an important economic and ecological area of Vietnam, being the country’s main area of rice production, aquaculture and shrimp farming. Water and sediment, as well as climate change, are important factors for agricultural development in the Mekong Delta. Due to the low terrain, the Mekong Delta is considered as an area which is highly at risk due to strong impacts from climate change and sea level rise.

The ICRSL Project aims to strengthen climate change management and adaptation capacity through improving planning, promoting sustainable livelihoods and building climate change resilient infrastructure, including irrigation infrastructure.

Objectives

The ICRSL Project is taking a deeper look into how to think beyond the operation of the specific irrigation infrastructure that the project is financing and look at the principles that could be adopted for operation of the overall system. It is also looking at how to strengthen the linkage between how the irrigation infrastructure is operated, given that, at the plot and area level the ICRSL Project is also investing in transitioning households to more climate resilient production systems. As a result, a change in water demands for these production systems is expected to take place over time.

AWP is supporting Australian Partner, RM Consulting Group (RMCG) to assess whether what is being proposed will help achieve the medium-term goal of the ICRSL Project – ensuring that the infrastructure investments also assist with the transitioning in livelihoods – by assessing the operation of the irrigation infrastructure system.

Outcomes

In early 2019, a team of Australian irrigation experts led by RMCG participated in field visits and discussions in Vietnam. Immediate advice was provided to the World Bank on the development of operational procedures for irrigations systems. The team also developed, for consideration, an ongoing Australian-led mentoring project with the World Bank to assist in implementing the project.

After the initial mission to assess the operation of the infrastructure system, the World Bank identified two areas requiring further support:

• Advisory support on the development of operation manuals for the irrigation systems of all nine provinces
• Recommendations on upgrades to the South Mang Thit sluice gates.