Pumping irrigation water for agricultural production in Tien Giang province’s Go Cong Dong district HCM City (VNS/VNA) – The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta is taking stepsto ensure sufficient freshwater supply for household use and agriculturalproduction in areas affected by saltwater intrusion and drought.
More wells will be drilled and water pipes installed to transport waterfrom water supply plants to households in these areas, the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development said in a document sent to the Prime Minister on February13.
The delta will also set up more public tap water faucets, plastic watercontainers and large plastic water bags at the offices of People’s Committeesand cultural houses in communes to supply fresh water for local residents.
Water tank trucks will provide fresh water to about 40,000 householdsin the provinces of Kien Giang, Ben Tre, Long An, Ca Mau and Tra Vinh.
Ben Tre and Tra Vinh will install facilities to filter saltwater and brackishwater and turn it into freshwater for local residents in affectedareas.
On February 9 – 11, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, visited several provinces to inspect the effectsof saltwater intrusion and drought.
The delta, the country’s largest rice, fruit and seafood producer, isfacing saltwater intrusion during the 2019 - 20 dry season.
It is expected to reach its peak this month and in the firsthalf of March, and then fall gradually by mid-March to June,according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting.
Saltwater intrusion is expected to enter 55 kilometres deep into thedelta’s main rivers from February 21 – 27, down 20 kilometres againstmid-February.
On March 7 – 15, water with a salinity rate of 4 grammes per litre isexpected to enter 80 kilometres deep into the delta’s main rivers, anincrease of 5 kilometres against mid-February.
Before the dry season, delta authorities, anticipating salineintrusion, decided to plant the winter-spring rice crop one monthearlier and dredged canals to store irrigation water. Theyalso upgraded and built new irrigation projects and saltwaterprevention sluices.
The measures have helped mitigate the damages to agriculturalproduction, according to the ministry.
About 60 percent of the delta’s 1.5 million hectares of the winter-spring ricehave been harvested, and the remaining areas are blooming or ripening andwill be harvested in one to three weeks. The remaining areas are safe as theystill have irrigation water for rice.
However, saltwater intrusion is threatening about 29,000ha of spring-summerrice because of a shortage of irrigation water. The cultivation ofspring-summer rice in the area is unstable and should be switched to otherdrought-resistant crops, said the ministry.
Saltwater intrusion is also causing a shortage of daily use water for 79,700households in the provinces of Ben Tre, Soc Trang, Kien Giang, Ca Mau, Bac Lieuand Long An.
Several provinces in the delta have asked the Government to providefunds to help them upgrade and build saltwaterprevention sluices, pumping stations and temporary dams.
Soc Trang province, for instance, has asked for 1.37 trillion VND (59 millionUSD), while Long An province has asked for 170 billion VND (7.3million USD)./.
