Cooperation agreement with Viet Nam on flood mitigation
Under the watchful eye of Tineke Huizinga, Vice Minister for Transport, Public Works and Water Management in the Netherlands and Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Thai Lai, a cooperation agreement was signed on 5 October 2009, between Viet Nam and The Netherlands to cooperate on improving flow forecasting of the Red River. A satellite-based flow forecasting system developed by UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education and EARS Earth Environment Monitoring will be used to provide relevant data.
© UNESCO-IHE
The Red River, originating in China's Yunnan province, is about 1,200 kilometres long. Its main tributaries, the Lo River, the Clear River and the Black River, contribute to its large water volume, which averages 4,300 cubic metres per second. Backed by the steep forested highlands, the downstream part, including Vietnamese capital Ha Noi, rises only a few metres above sea level. The area is subject to frequent flooding; at some places the high-water mark of floods is fourteen meters above the surrounding countryside.
Massive economic losses
Although a variety of infrastructure works have been carried out in the Vietnamese part of the Red River basin, floods incur massive economic losses, estimated at five billion USD over the past 20 years. The most recent flood occurred last year November, and covered an area of 2600 square kilometres causing 120 victims.
Satellite data for flow forecasting
Sufficient and timely data from the entire basin are essential to take preventive measures and to warn inhabitants for flood risk. The new technology proposed, uses near real-time satellite-derived rainfall and evaporation data fields in combination with numerical weather predictions to drive a hydrological flow simulation and forecasting model.
Recently, a similar system has successfully been put into operation for the Yellow River in China. Operational implementation takes place at the National Hydro-Meteorological Service of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The cooperation also involves the Water Resources University in Hanoi, and includes a substantial capacity building component.