[A-HW22] Material transportation and cycling in watershed ecosystems; from headwaters to coastal areas

[AHW22-P24] Assessment of drought trends in the Dakbla watershed, Vietnam

*Tram Ngoc Quynh Vo¹, Hiroaki Somura¹ (1.Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, Okayama University)

Keywords:Water scarcity, Agricultural activities, Water allocation, Mountainous watershed

Drought is one of the complex disasters among various natural hazards, especially in mountainous regions. Dakbla watershed is located in the Central Highland of Vietnam, where the extreme events have a significant impact on water resources management. The anomaly of extreme events is one of the main reasons for water scarcity, especially in the dry season. Agriculture can be impaired within a very short period, depending upon the duration of droughts. Farmers still struggle to choose suitable crops under harsh climatic conditions. The situation strongly affects on food security in the area. Therefore, assessment of drought trends was conducted in the target watershed by using various drought indices. The simulation results of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) were utilized for evaluating drought trends during the year 2000 to 2018. The drought tendency was illustrated based on a spatial distribution of sub-watershed level in the target area. In general, understanding the drought trends could support for local authorities and farmers from the aspect of water resources management in the watershed scale and propose a strategy in the future.