Open AccessSocio-economic assessment of riverbank erosion from heavy boat traffic: A case study at the Cho Gao Canal, Tien Giang, Vietnam
Author(s) -
Hoàng Hà Anh,
Nguyễn Ngọc Thủy
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.179
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/967/1/012005
Subject(s) - livelihood , socioeconomics , erosion , geography , agriculture , business , agricultural economics , economics , archaeology , paleontology , biology
Cho Gao canal is the only inland waterway channel for river transport with large tonnage transporting rice, agricultural products, and goods from the Mekong Delta to Ho Chi Minh City. However, big waves from heavy boat traffic have been gradually wearing away the riverbanks, creating severe erosion and affecting local communities livelihood and safety. This study assessed the vulnerability of riverbank erosion in the Cho Gao canal using a quantified erosion index and the contingent valuation method. The data was collected from 120 households living along the canal. The calculation revealed that 76.67% of the households had moderate erosion vulnerability, which will become higher in the future unless government interventions are made. Besides, this paper also examined people willingness to accept (WTA) to compensate for the losses from riverbank erosion. On average, each household along the canal accepted 503.4 million VND (around 21,872.78 USD) of compensation to pay for their suffered losses. Factors influencing people’s WTA were erosion affected levels, income, and age. People living along the Cho Gao canal have been experiencing damages from riverbank erosion since 2009, so there is a demand for state interventions to alleviate the problem and re-stabilize local communities’ livelihood.