Combining Water Resources, Socioenvironmental, and Psychological Factors in Assessing Willingness to Conserve Groundwater in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 148, Issue 3
Abstract
Freshwater resources in coastal areas are under intense pressure from excessive groundwater extraction, which amplifies saltwater intrusion (SWI) into coastal freshwater aquifers, such as in the Mekong Delta. Studies that combine socioenvironmental data and households’ psychological factors next to salinity measurement data to design groundwater conservation strategies are rare. In this study, these aspects are combined to explore their influence on the public willingness to conserve groundwater using a Bayesian belief network model. We analyzed 313 household survey data spread over three districts in the coastal province of Tra Vinh, located in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. The level of salinity is significantly correlated with the willingness to conserve groundwater. The top three socioenvironmental characteristics that influence willingness are the level of salinity, type of employment—i.e., being a farmer—and frequency of being exposed to groundwater or SWI promotional activities. Social norm, i.e., perceived social pressure, is the most influential psychological factor that determines willingness. This study reveals an urgency for the local government to intervene and create social pressure regarding the issue.
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Data Availability Statement
The following data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request (data sets used and the BBN model).
Acknowledgments
We thank the SALINPROVE team for their collaboration and sharing the groundwater simulations analysis. We thank the Lamminga fund and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education for their financial support. A special thanks to Hai Dao Hong, Truyen Phu Nhat, Huy Nguyen Quoc, and Anh Vuong Tuan (VNUHCM-University of Technology) for their assistance during the fieldwork in the Tra Vinh province, May–June 2019, and A. Arifin for helping with the GIS modeling.
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Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 148 • Issue 3 • March 2022
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Dec 1, 2020
Accepted: Oct 25, 2021
Published online: Dec 23, 2021
Published in print: Mar 1, 2022
Discussion open until: May 23, 2022
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