Archived News: Binh Thuan Climate,
Mui Ne Weather
14.06.07 Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung signed a decision on Wednesday to allocate VND33.7 billion (US$205,000) to aid seven drought-hit provinces. Binh Thuan (where Mui Ne is located), with some of the driest spots in S.E. Asia, will receive VND3 billion.
 28.03.07 A drought since last fall is devastating the lives of thousands of poor people in rural areas of Binh Thuan province. Many people are thirsty as wells have run dry and crops have been severely damaged because clean water supplies are not enough to serve the nearly 4,000 households and 5.5 thousand hectares of crops in four districts across the province.
Local authorities in Tuy Phong, Bac Binh, and Ham Thuan Bac districts plan to transport clean water to the area by tankers. The province will also dredge the La Nga River and drill artesian wells to search for additional water.
Intense drought has become a recurring part of the yearly climate cycle in the last decade. During dry season both crops and livestock die off as lakes and rivers dry up and sand storms sweep across the countryside. The desertification of Binh Thuan has received some local press within VN and even caught the attention of UNESCO, yet international press and foreign environmental groups have yet to notice the immergence of S.E. Asia's first desert region.
17.03.06 Intense erosion and sea encroachment in La Gi Township (South of Phan Thiet, at Ham Tan) has prompted the local People’s Committee to begin rezoning a resettlement area for more than 130 households. Building in the area will start immediately upon receiving the proper approval by authorities.
The intense drought followed by flash-flooding in out-of-season rains has taken a toll on residents living on the coast of Binh Thuan. Since last November, strong winds and big waves have caused flooding and landslides. About 400m of land has been lost to the sea.
Each household will receive VND3 million from the provincial budget, and poor households will get VND6 million for building new houses. The township has also given 10kg of rice and VND200,000 to each household. While a generous gift from local authorities, these funds are unlikely to cover the essential costs of relocating, building new homes and establishing new livelihoods for the victims.
In unrelated news, the Vietnam-America Titan Dioxide Joint Venture Co. began construction on Tuesday of a dioxide powder factory in La Gi. The factory will start production on March 2007. Titan (Titanium) Dioxide is an essential ingredient used for white pigments in paint, plastic and cosmetics. Phan Thiet, La Gi and Phan Ri Cua (to the north), respectively, are the three most important ports in Binh Thuan Province.
20.01.06 The Binh Thuan province hydrometeorology station is warning that floods caused by rough seas will hit the province close to Tet at the end of January. Waves were also a serious problem a few months ago when damage displaced 330 families. Binh Thuan’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development suggests using sandbags and embankments to limit the damage.
10.01.06 Tuy Phong District authorities in North Eastern Binh Thuan Province have asked provincial authorities to help relocate 122 families and assist 1190 people in the district. Their lives have been disrupted and their home destroyed by floods that have also spread disease and pollution. The unusually high levels of rain at the end of the rainy season came after a year of severe drought.
Meanwhile, to the South West, the province is spending 70 billion VND ($4.4 million USD) to supply water to an area vulnerable to desertification. Water will be pumped from a local river into Hoa Thang and Hong Phong wards in Bac Binh commune, near the White Sand Dunes.
Another project to protect soil and water resources and stay the current trend of desertification is also underway on a trial basis in Hong Phong ward. The dunes area has limited rainfall and no underground water sources, rivers or streams.
The project is financed by the UNDP Global Environment Fund and began in April 2005. Its completion is scheduled for April 2008. If the project is successful, it will be introduced to other areas in the province that are prone to drought.
 04.12.05 The Jakarta office of Unesco is reporting that a program for artificial aquifer recharge in Hong Phong, Bac Binh District, in the area near the White Sand Dunes (Bau Trang), is under way. The program is sponsored by the Vietnamese Government, UNESCO, International Council for Science, and the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Territory. The process captures water which would otherwise be lost to run-off and evaporation, and infuses it back into the groundwater.
Before 1975, much of the province was covered in dense tropical forests, which were clear-cut to make room for rice fields which were never developed. In many sites, poor choices of crop types unsuitable for the soil and environmental conditions failed. Massive desertification resulted, causing dune areas to expand greatly.
The province receives 1150 mm/year of rain on average. A four-month period from December to March is characterized by very little precipitation (about 23 mm). The area of Hong Phong is the driest part of Vietnam, with the annual rainfall ranging less than 500 mm/yr. The area suffers considerable drought during the dry season, which was never experienced prior the complete removal of forest. With no ground cover, intense heat, and sand soils, surface water evaporates quickly. The 2005 dry season expereinced intense heat and winds in the province, and many cattle and trees died. Sand storms sweapt through the countriside for a brief period.
The resort area of Mui Ne is fortunate to be vitually immune from the droubt problems during dry season. A microclimate creates an oasis along the beach where the dunes act as a buffer and wind blocker to trap moisture in the humid air, and natural spring waters flow in streams out to the sea. Developers must be careful to observe past mistakes in the province and preserve the trees and groundcover that exists in Mui Ne. Without the groves of coconut palms, bananas trees and other plants found here, Mui Ne would likely become a barren desert landscape.
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