Integration of environmental data is critical for water. WISDOM, a Vietnamese-German project, is an inspirational model of how watershed management leads to sustainable use and preservation of water resources. WISDOM combines information from hydrology, sociology, information technology, and earth observation for its implementation of an Information System for the Mekong Delta.

The Mekong Delta struggles against population increase, changing climatic conditions, and regulatory measures. Because of these challenges, extreme flood events occur more frequently, drinking water availability is increasingly limited, soils show signs of salinization or acidification and species and complete habitats are diminishing.

WISDOM’s integrated information system contains available and newly generated data from multiple disciplines, open to users through an accessible query. The IS allows a feed of input from remote sensing, GIS, digital maps, in-situ, interpolated point measurements, and other sources. Available data includes flood and drought risk, water quality, sediment load, discharge, and land use changes.

Lessons learned from this initiative include that the cooperation of national institutes and regional or local authorities needs to be strengthened. Successes include the knowledge transfer provided between German institutions and Vietnamese doctorate candidates and the user-friendliness of the IS that can answer specific and complex questions that support regional planning activities.