German Ambassador visits IGPVN field campaign in Southern Vietnam on 22.11.2018

The German Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Christian Berger, visited a team of BGR experts during a field campaign in the Southern Vietnamese Mekong province of Cà Mau. There, the local environment authority (Department of Natural Resources and Environment – DONRE), with support by IGPVN, is currently implementing a survey of licensed groundwater production wells at over 500 locations in the province. The survey will contribute to an improved understanding of the groundwater situation, and provide a baseline and starting point for future measures to protect the groundwater and better regulate abstractions.

Measurement of groundwater electrical conductivity at a municipal water supply well in Ca Mau city

Measurement of groundwater level

Groundwater is not only vital to drinking water supply in Ca Mau, but is also increasingly used in agriculture and aquaculture, which has seen a strong, export-driven boom in recent years. Groundwater resources are already over-used today and threatened by salinization. Furthermore, excessive groundwater use likely contributes to land subsidence, which endangers the low-lying Mekong Delta region as a whole.

The field visit was part of a three-day information tour by the ambassador to the Mekong Delta, and accompanied by representatives of the provincial government and GIZ. The project “Improvement of Groundwater Protection in Vietnam” is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented jointly by BGR, NAWAPI and other Vietnamese partners.