Ninh Thuan Province authorities are rushing to complete the Tan My reservoir and weir system on the Dinh River near Phan Rang-Thap Cham City in order to deal with drought and saltwater intrusion.

The USD127.5m Tan My Reservoir is Ninh Thuan’s biggest irrigation project to date. 

The reservoirs will provide water to nearly 4,400 hectares of cultivated land in Ninh Son and Bac Ai districts, 12,800 hectares of land in Ninh Hai District, 630 hectares of aquaculture farms and over 100,000 households.

The project includes a reservoir on Cai River and five weirs that will be built 13km downstream. 

The reservoir has the capacity of 203 million cubic metres while the weirs are 1.3km to 1.5km long. 

A canal system that is 36.5km long in total and 67km of branches will also be built.

The weirs are being completed for the first tests in late 2017.   

The weir construction on Dinh River was also started this month to help prevent saltwater intrusion and store water for 50 hectares of cultivated land and 20,000 households. 

A bridge to cross Dinh River has also been built.

The project costs VND700bn (USD30.7m) and is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2019. 

Ninh Thuan is considered "Vietnam's little desert" with 10 sunny months and drought is a common problem. 

From 2014 to 2016, nearly 20,000 hectares of crops were damaged, thousands of cattle fell sick and hundreds of households face poverty.

The provincial vice chairman Le Van Binh said last year, 1,600 households lacked water, production on 15,000 hectares of cultivated land was halted, 61 hectares of land turned saline and 5,307 cattle died. 

When the drought ended, the farmers continued facing difficulties as it rained almost non-stop for two to three months.

In March, Ninh Thuan authorities launched the Strengthening River Basin Management Capacity through Participatory Irrigation Management in Relation to Climate Change (PIM) project in the presence of Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam Jehanne Roccas. 

The project is part of the co-operation programme between Vietnam and Belgium signed in 2011. 

The Belgium government will provide EUR1m non-refundable aid and Ninh Thuan will provide EUR100,000 corresponding fund.  

dtinews