a top official has said.

Tanks of water from Sai Gon Water Supply Company were carried to the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre to supply people who face water shortages due to drought and saline intrusion. — VNA/VNS Photo

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong made the statement at a meeting held in the Mekong Delta province of Long An on Saturday about drought and saline intrusion prevention and control.

He said that thanks to what had been done to fight drought and salinity intrusion in the province, Vietnam could learn good lessons for dealing with the extreme weather in the future.

Cuong applauded the timely forecasting of salinity intrusion that helped agencies and farmers restructure agricultural production to match available water volume.

The Government, ministries and agencies effectively instructed localities and agencies to develop plans to tackle drought, saltwater intrusion and water shortages.

“This year, we identified challenges posed by droughts and saltwater intrusion to the Mekong Delta early,” Cuong said, adding that as soon as September 2019, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with leaders of 13 Mekong Delta provinces to discuss the issue.

The minister recalled the saline intrusion in 2016 which was described as the worst in the region in 100 years which offered both authorities and people experiences to better deal with this year’s incidents.

Saline intrusion in 2016 lasted about two months, and only two communes in Ben Tre Province were not affected while this year, the saline intrusion has already lasted five months and the whole Mekong Delta region has been submerged under water.

“Groups of measures were taken,” he said.

Works to store water and prevent saline intrusion were built and completed on time.

Cultivation areas were zoned, reduced and crops and cultivation times were changed so the areas affected by drought or saline intrusion was reduced.

The dredging of canals, ponds or wells and the construction of dams, pumping stations to control saline intrusion helped save nearly 400,000 ha of farming land.

Cuong said because people were equipped with a better understanding of the risks, development and impacts of saline intrusion, they became more active in responding and strictly followed agencies’ recommendations.

People stored water during the previous rainy season and in areas that faced water shortages, water was carried to every household, Cuong said.

According to the Directorate of Water Resources, the dry season 2019-2020 hit the Mekong Delta region in the middle of November 2019, about a month earlier than in previous years, while it lasted twice as long as the dry season in 2016. 

Droughts and salinity remained severe during the dry season, with salinity levels in the Cua Tieu, Cua Dai and Ham Luong rivers remained high from February to May.

According to the Cultivation Department under the ministry, saline intrusion directly hit 10 out of 13 Mekong Delta provinces.

About 41,900 ha or 2.7 per cent of the total winter-spring rice crop in the region was damaged by the saline intrusion, of which, Tra Vinh lost 14,300ha, Tien Giang 4,500ha, Soc Trang 4,100ha, Kien Giang 1,600ha, Long An 800ha and Ca Mau 600ha.

The lost crops were mainly planted after December 2019 as farmers did not take the advice of agencies.

About 6,650ha of orchards were affected by the droughts and saline intrusion.

More than 1,240ha of other crops were affected.

About 8,715ha of aquaculture production including fish and shrimp were affected, mostly in provinces of Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Kien Giang.

About 96,000 households had their water supply disrupted during the dry season due to droughts and saline water.  Meanwhile, droughts and saline intrusion in the dry season 2015-2016 caused water shortages for about 210,000 households in the region though it lasted about two months.  VNS

Mekong Delta province faces severe water shortage

The Mekong Delta province of Long An, which has been hit by severe drought this year, needs more fresh water, but can only supply about 50 percent of demand from its 35 fresh water treatment plants and stations.

Mekong Delta supplied free freshwater

Thousands of people in the Mekong Delta Region have been given free freshwater to deal with the on-going drought and saline intrusion.