A severe coastal erosion site in An Giang Province’s Bình Giang Commune. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Đạt

MEKONG DELTA — Local authorities in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta are stepping up spending on erosion prevention projects to prevent damage along rivers and coasts.

The delta, the country’s largest producer of rice, fruit, and seafood, faces worsening climate change effects, reduced sediment flows in the Mekong River and increasingly high tides along the coast.

Combined with human activities such as illegal sand mining in river and canal beds, these have accelerated erosion in recent years.

Cần Thơ has reported 41 incidents of erosion stretching nearly 1,200m along river and canal banks this year alone, affecting 39 households and causing losses of VNĐ6.3 billion (US$240,000), according to the city’s Steering Committee for Civil Defence, Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue.

The erosion has destroyed not only homes but also infrastructure.

At dawn on May 13, a 46m stretch of road along the left bank of the Bằng Tăng River in the former Ô Môn District’s Thới Long Ward collapsed completely.

In An Giang Province, several coastal sections in Bình Giang Commune have receded hundreds of metres inland, especially in the Bình Giang 2 area and Kinh 4 Hamlet.

Nguyễn Mạnh Lâu, a resident of Kinh 4, said: “This area has been eroding for more than five years. The sea has moved 100m inland. Thousands of square metres of protective forests have gone. Shrimp ponds are at risk.”

According to the An Giang Irrigation Sub-department, more than 101km of coast have been eroded in the province.

Cà Mau, the country’s southernmost province, has more than 310km of coastline, of which over 200km are eroded.

Its 108km western sea dyke is constantly under threat. With protective forests destroyed, waves now hit the dyke directly.

Bùi Quốc Nam, deputy head of the Western Sea Dyke Management Station, said: “In places where forests are gone, the erosion risk is very high, especially from August to year-end when the southwesterly winds are strongest.”

The sub-department warns that hundreds of households still live outside the dyke in temporary homes without protection.

Along the province’s 163km eastern coast, nearly 100km of shoreline are severely eroded.

Nguyễn Thanh Tùng, head of the Cà Mau Irrigation Sub-department, said the province lost more than 8,800ha of land and protective forests along its coast between 1990 and 2023.

Since 2011 just the eastern coast, an erosion hotspot, has lost 6,250ha, he said.

As a result, many households have lost property and farmlands, forcing them to relocate, he said.

Nguyễn Văn Tẻo of Chợ Thủ B Hamlet in Tân Ân Commune once had three hectares of land, but now he lives in a small hut at the water’s edge.

“In the 2024 northeast wind season, water rose over two metres and swept everything away. Without farmlands, my family survives by catching crabs and snails. Every night I keep a life jacket by my bed, afraid of sudden waves.”

An eroded site along the Thơm Rơm Canal section in the Tân Phú area in Cần Thơ’s Thuận Hưng Ward caused the collapse of three houses and a rice paper making establishment on May 16. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Liêm

Upgrading sea dykes

The delta’s western sea dyke running through Cà Mau and An Giang provinces plays a crucial role in the lives of coastal communities.

It serves not only as a barrier against natural disasters and erosion, protecting mangrove forests and farmlands, but also as a transport route supporting economic development.

Both provinces have made efforts to upgrade the dyke to prevent erosion, restore mangrove forests and protect crops.

In An Giang, the 134km western sea dyke is being upgraded and integrated with a coastal road, expected to be completed in 2027.

The province has completed 12 embankment projects totalling 69km and costing more than VNĐ1.5 trillion ($57 million) to protect its western coast.

These projects safeguard more than 166ha of forests and tens of thousands of hectares of rice and other crops and aquaculture farming areas.

In Cà Mau, nearly 52km of its 108km western dyke have been reinforced. Around 80km of breakwater have been built along the dyke, helping restore the mangrove ecosystem and create a forest belt 150–200m wide.

The province will upgrade a 19km section of the western sea dyke from Cái Đôi Vàm to Kênh Năm.

It has also approved construction of a 4.2km breakwater from Vĩnh Trạch Đông to Nhà Mát to protect the eastern sea dyke at a cost of VNĐ250 billion ($9.5 million).

Another project, the two-kilometre Gành Hào sea embankment, will cost VNĐ140 billion ($5.3 million).

Hương Mai estuary in Cà Mau Province’s U Minh Commune is reinforced with pre-stressed centrifugal embankments to protect the inland shelterbelt forests. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Đạt

With government action and community support, Cần Thơ is prioritising embankment construction at eroded sites.

A key project is the emergency embankment on the left bank of the Ô Môn River through Thới Thạnh Commune.

The 490m structure, estimated to cost VNĐ45 billion ($1.7 million), is expected to be completed before April 30 next year.

The city People’s Committee has approved VNĐ837 million ($32,000) worth of financial support for households affected by erosion and other natural disasters this year.

It has also instructed local authorities to closely monitor disasters, and allocated funds for relief work.

In Vĩnh Long, many dykes, riverbanks and irrigation works have eroded or subsided, according to the province irrigation sub-department.

Châu Văn Hòa, deputy chairman of the Vĩnh Long People’s Committee, has directed local authorities to conduct regular surveys, carry out timely repairs and coordinate emergency declarations.

The Provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment has asked the People’s Committee for VNĐ39 billion ($1.5 million) to repair five embankments along rivers and canals.

They are located along the Hàm Luông and Vàm Nước Trong rivers in Đồng Khởi Commune, where erosion has reached depths of 20–30m.

The remaining three projects are in Quới Thiện and Cái Ngang communes and Tân Ngãi Ward.

On August 17, construction of the Láng Thé River embankment began in Bình Phú Commune, including a grandstand for the Ngo boat race at a cost of more than VNĐ160 billion ($6 million).

Nguyễn Quỳnh Thiện, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee, said: “This project plays a vital role in protecting the Láng Thé riverbank, preventing erosion, improving the urban landscape, enhancing the living environment and promoting sustainable socio-economic and cultural development.”

The 650m embankment, with a 4,000-seat grandstand, is expected to be completed by September 2026. — VNS