Mekong Delta sets up public tap water faucets as saline intrusion peaks
HCM City (VNS/VNA) – The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta is taking steps
to ensure sufficient freshwater supply for household use and agricultural
production in areas affected by saltwater intrusion and drought.
More wells will be drilled and water pipes installed to transport water
from water supply plants to households in these areas, the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development said in a document sent to the Prime Minister on February
13.
The delta will also set up more public tap water faucets, plastic water
containers and large plastic water bags at the offices of People’s Committees
and cultural houses in communes to supply fresh water for local residents.
Water tank trucks will provide fresh water to about 40,000 households
in 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 brackish
water and turn it into freshwater for local residents in affected
areas.
On February 9 – 11, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, visited several provinces to inspect the effects
of saltwater intrusion and drought.
The delta, the country’s largest rice, fruit and seafood producer, is
facing saltwater intrusion during the 2019 - 20 dry season.
It is expected to reach its peak this month and in the first
half 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 the
delta’s main rivers from February 21 – 27, down 20 kilometres against
mid-February.
On March 7 – 15, water with a salinity rate of 4 grammes per litre is
expected to enter 80 kilometres deep into the delta’s main rivers, an
increase of 5 kilometres against mid-February.
Before the dry season, delta authorities, anticipating saline
intrusion, decided to plant the winter-spring rice crop one month
earlier and dredged canals to store irrigation water. They
also upgraded and built new irrigation projects and saltwater
prevention sluices.
The measures have helped mitigate the damages to agricultural
production, according to the ministry.
About 60 percent of the delta’s 1.5 million hectares of the winter-spring rice
have been harvested, and the remaining areas are blooming or ripening and
will be harvested in one to three weeks. The remaining areas are safe as they
still have irrigation water for rice.
However, saltwater intrusion is threatening about 29,000ha of spring-summer
rice because of a shortage of irrigation water. The cultivation of
spring-summer rice in the area is unstable and should be switched to other
drought-resistant crops, said the ministry.
Saltwater intrusion is also causing a shortage of daily use water for 79,700
households in the provinces of Ben Tre, Soc Trang, Kien Giang, Ca Mau, Bac Lieu
and Long An.
Several provinces in the delta have asked the Government to provide
funds to help them upgrade and build saltwater
prevention sluices, pumping stations and temporary dams.
Soc Trang province, for instance, has asked for 1.37 trillion VND (59 million
USD), while Long An province has asked for 170 billion VND (7.3
million USD)./.