Ben Tre (VNA) – A conference was heldin Ben Tre province on January 3 to discuss measures for coping with droughtand saltwater intrusion which are getting more serious in the Mekong Delta thisdry season.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentNguyen Xuan Cuong said saltwater intrusion in the 2019-2020 dry season hasappeared earlier than in the 2015-2016 dry season, when the historic droughtand saline intrusion caused huge losses to the Mekong Delta – the largestagricultural production hub of Vietnam. The situation is forecast to continuegetting more serious, severely affecting local agricultural production andpeople’s lives.

Notably, the 2019 rainy season in the MekongRiver basin came later than normal, with lower water flow than the average. Asa result, water flow to the Mekong Delta, comprising 12 provinces and onecentrally-run city, since the beginning of this dry season has fallen sharply, standingat a very low level compared to the average.

Director General of the ministry’s Directorateof Water Resources Nguyen Van Tinh said since January 1, the water level on theMekong River measured at the Kratie station of Cambodia has been almost 2.33mlower than the average and 0.77m lower than that in the same period in 2015. 

Meanwhile, the amount of water in Cambodia’sTonle Sap Lake at present is about 15.7 billion cu.m. lower than the average ofthe 2010-2018 period and nearly 340 million cu.m. lower than in the same periodof the 2015-2016 dry season.

From January to February, the water flowmeasured at the Kratie station is predicted to be 35 percent lower than theaverage, and the water amount in Tonle Sap Lake will remain low, unable to supplywater for downstream areas in Vietnam.

The agriculture ministry reported the MekongDelta has sown rice seeds on more than 1.5 million ha for the 2019-2020winter-spring crop, and irrigation solutions are needed to ensure water forabout 332,000ha of the area in case of prolonged saltwater intrusion, mostly inLong An, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Hau Giang and KienGiang.

Apart from agriculture, drought and saltwaterintrusion have also led to water shortage for about 82,000 households in theregion, mainly in Ben Tre, Soc Trang, Kien Giang, Ca Mau and Tien Giang. Thenumber of affected households is likely to reach 158,000 in the time ahead,according to localities’ reports.

Hoang Duc Cuong, Deputy Director General of theMeteorological and Hydrological Administration under the Ministry of NaturalResources and Environment, said drought and saline intrusion are projected toinfluence the same area as in the 2015-2016 dry season with 10 of the 13provincial-level localities under impact.

At the conference, Deputy Prime Minister TrinhDinh Dung said effective solutions are necessary to deal with drought andsaltwater intrusion in both short and long terms.

He asked the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment to coordinate with the localities to carry out effectivecountermeasures. They must ensure water supply for people’s lives andagriculture and prevent epidemics caused by water shortage.

The Deputy PM also requested them to keep aclose watch on the weather and water sources in the Mekong Delta and upstreamareas, devise water supply plans, allocate funding for anti-drought solutions,reinforce embankments, and actively store fresh water. In the long term, thelocalities should install automatic salinity monitoring devices and perfectirrigation systems to control tidal surges and saltwater intrusion.

Dung also asked the Ministry of NaturalResources and Environment to coordinate with relevant agencies to work withcountries in the upper Mekong River to collect information about the watersituation and operations of hydropower reservoirs, and propose the neighboursincrease releasing water from their reservoirs to help the Vietnamese delta topush back saltwater when necessary./.