Household demand and supply for clean groundwater in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Abstract

Because of the important role of groundwater and limited studies related to groundwater, in order to prevent the possibility of deterioration of this valuable natural water resource in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta studies on the analysis of household behavior of private tube-well and groundwater supply unit (GSU) water users to identify the demand and supply situation of groundwater and the proper management of groundwater are very essential. The study identified the options available to households in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam in dealing with the quality of their water sources and presented an analysis of their switching behavior across such sources by using various regression models (the multiple regression, the two-step switching regression, and the linear probability). This study found that the water consumption of GSU users was significantly lower compared with those using private tube-wells for their water needs. For non-GSU users, the probability of switching to GSU water was found to be 37 percent. Income played an important role in encouraging households to switch to using GSU water. In addition, the interaction effects between income and the education level of the head of the household and the length of the time the household had settled in the community increased the probability of switching to GSU water. This result supports the conclusion that switching from private tube-wells to GSU water would encourage water saving, thus preventing ground water resources from being over-extracted.