Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Rivers across Vietnam are facing severe watershortages in the coming dry season.

The Vietnam Metrological and Hydrological Administration said on February 7that water reserves of northern rivers would remain low between February andJuly.

From February to April, the water level in the Da River basin to reservoirs ofLai Chau, Son La and Hoa Binh is predicted to be 20 to 50 percent lower thanprevious years.

The Thao River basin will lack 40 to 70 percent of its water reserves comparedto previous years, while Lo River basin might be 60 to 90 percent below itsnormal capacity.

The lowest water level recorded at the Hanoi measuring station on the Hong (RedRiver) at the end of February or early March is predicted to be 0.2 to 0.3m.

Rivers in the central region and Central Highlands are forecast to suffersevere water shortages over the summer, with volumetric flow rates reducing by25 to 80 percent compared to the same period last year.

From March to May, Thanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces, as well asCentral Highlands localities, will face a water crisis.

From June to August, drought and saline intrusion are set to spread in coastalcentral provinces from Quang Tri to Khanh Hoa, similarly to the last dryseason.

In the south, as the water level in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake has dropped, thevolumetric flow rate on the Mekong River to Vietnam’s Mekong Delta fromFebruary to March is predicted to reduce from 5 to 20 percent compared to 2016.

In mid-March, the flow rate to Kratie Station in Cambodia might rise asreservoirs will open sluice gates.

According to Hoang Duc Cuong, the administration’s deputy head, salineintrusion in Mekong Delta will get worse this year, peaking in February.

Chau Tran Vinh, deputy head of the Department of Water Resources Managementsaid as of February, four of 11 river basins had suffered water shortagesincluding the Ma, Huong, Vu Gia – Thu Bon and Ba rivers.

However, since the beginning of the dry season, many reservoirs had halteddischarges of water or stopped generating electricity to ensure water supplyfor the rest of the season, from five to seven months. Therefore, despite theshortage, the situation had not yet been serious, he said.

Seasonal rainfall from February to April is forecast to drop by up to 40 percentcompared to previous years, especially in the Central Highlands and southernregion, triggering a looming water crisis across the country, according to the VietnamInstitute of Metrology, Hydrology and Climate Change.

According to the National Centre for Water Resources Planning andInvestigation, Vietnam’s underground water reserve is 91 billion cubic metresper year including 69 billion cubic metres of freshwater. The freshwater thathas been licensed to exploit is 3.6 billion cubic metres per year or 9.9million cubic metres per day.

The centre’s director Tong Ngoc Thanh stressed underground water planning as animmediate solution to respond to the water shortage, especially in urban areas,and subsidence due to excessive exploitation in deltas.

Le Cong Thanh, deputy minister of natural resources and environment, asked theDepartment of Water Resources Management to give early warnings to localitieswhich might face water shortages.

He also urged Vietnam National Mekong Committee to research Cambodia’s Sesanand Serepok rivers and propose a plan with Cambodia over water sharing andrequested Vietnam Metrological and Hydrological Administration report on salineintrusion in the Mekong Delta./.