A workshop to assess Da Nang’s current usage of surface water and its water resource management took place in the city on Wednesday.  The event was jointly organised by the city’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment and the US Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET). 

At the event, the participants discussed the seriously increasing risk of water shortages in Da Nang, and in the central region as a whole.  Currently, the Vu Gia and Thu Bon rivers are facing the exhaustion of water resources and saline intrusion because of the arrival of the dry season.  This is causing negative impacts on agricultural production and the lives of local people in downstream areas.  According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the drought conditions in the central region in general, and in Da Nang in particular, will last until late August.

In an attempt to deal with this problem, water resources experts stressed the need for Da Nang to take effective measures to reduce the negative impacts of hydro-electric power plant projects on the city.