Mekong River Delta
Cong Mai Van (TU Delft - Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk, Thuyloi University)
Xuefei Mei (East China Normal University)
Tri Cao Mai (Hanoi University of Civil Engineering)
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Abstract
Mekong River (MR) is the 12th longest river in the world with a total length of
4800 km (Li et al., 2017). From its source in the Tibetan Plateau, MR flows across
six different countries, namely China, Myanmar, Laos People’s Democratic Republic
(Laos PDR), Thailand, Cambodia and finally Vietnam before draining into the South
China Sea (Fig. 1). The river has a drainage area of 795000 km2 (Hoang et al., 2016).
In its natural and undisturbed state, MR annually transports approximately ~470
billion m3 of water and 160 million tons of sediment to the delta (Li et al., 2017;
Wild & Loucks, 2014). Following various human interferences, the delta presently
receives 400 billion m3 of water and only 37 million tons of sediment (Thi Ha et al.,
2018). MR basin is dominated by Asian monsoon climate, which generates distinct
wet (June–November) and dry (December–May) seasons. Tropical typhoons in the
Pacific Ocean also significantly contribute to the rainfall during the later parts of the
wet season (August to early October).