THE VULNERABILITY OF GROUNDWATER DUE TO

EXPLOITATION ACTIVITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN CA

MAU PENINSULA
Dao Hong Hai1*, Nguyen Viet Ky1, Bui Tran Vuong2
1

Geology and Petroleum engineering, Ho Chi Minh city University of Technology, 268 Ly
Thuong Ky District 10, Ho Chi Minh city, Viet Nam, Tel: +84902.04.04.78, Email: dhhai@hcmut.edu.vn
2

Division for water resources planning and investigation for the south of Viet Nam, 59 street 2
Binh An ward, district 2, Ho Chi Minh city, Viet Nam, Tel: +84-8-37408433, Fax: +84-8-37408044
Email: liendoandctvmn@vnn.vn

Abstract
Ca Mau peninsula is one of the four areas of the Mekong Delta, and is surrounded by the
Hau River, the East Sea and the West Sea. With the development of the agriculture and
aquaculture over the years, the surface water systems in this area were mostly polluted and
salinisated. In such natural, geographical, and economic circumstances, the surface water cannot
satisfy the needs of people, and so groundwater resources is now the main source of supply in the
region. In recent years, under the high rate of groundwater extraction, the groundwater level here
has strongly decreased at the rates of 0.50; 1.76; 1.24; 1.98; 1.42 and 2.58 m per year for the
aquifers qp3, qp2-3, qp1, n22, n21 and n13, respectively. Besides that, the phenomenon of global
climate change and sea level rise are affecting many social economic conditions and natural
resources, including groundwater resources. In this paper, the authors use the modeling method
to simulate groundwater flow in the period from 2000 to 2010, and use water level data from
many monitoring stations for model calibration. The authors also use the rate of economic population - social development to predict water demand scenarios of the region until 2030; and
climate change scenarios from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental to assess
the impact on the calibrated model. Based on the results, the authors assess the vulnerable of
groundwater resources in term of quality (the spread saltwater) and quantity (rate of decline in
water level), and propose some reasonable responding approaches for the planning, exploitation
and using activities of groundwater resources in Ca Mau peninsula.
Key words: the vulnerability of groundwater, impact of climate change, groundwater of
Ca Mau peninsula.