Session5: Irrigation and Drainages
Title: ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF SALINITY AND FISH SPECIES IN A CHANNEL NETWORK IN THE MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM
Shinji Fukuda, Masaomi Kimura
Considering the impact of human activities with a specific focus on irrigation development, we conducted a series of surveys on the distribution of salinity and fish species in rivers, main canals and agricultural channels in Ben Tre, Vietnam. Salinity (pss) was measured using different salinity sensors according to sampling sites. Fish sampling was conducted by a hand net, a cast net and a fyke net considering the local condition of a sampling site. We observed totaled 79 species including freshwater, brackish water and marine species, whereas some specimens could not be identified due to insufficient information on the species. Different species showed different ranges of its distribution along salinity. Further studies are needed to assess the impact of development activities for urbanization and irrigation based on hydrodynamic simulations considering water flow and salinity dynamics both affected by irrigation management.