Saline intrusion this year in Vinh Long province has arrived a month earlier than usual and is forecast to be much more severe than in previous years. Given the situation, many organisations and individuals have assisted locals with water tanks and purifiers.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has forecast saltwater intrusion for 10 of the 13 provincial-level localities in the Mekong Delta this dry season, and the phenomenon has already appeared in eight so far.
Authorities in provinces in the Mekong Delta and Can Tho city are dredging irrigation works and storing fresh water to cope with saltwater intrusion during the dry season.
The Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap plans to release floodwaters into 90,200ha of rice fields in this year’s rainy season to fertilise the soil and flush away rice disease pathogens.
Many farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh have escaped poverty by adapting to climate change and shifting from rice to maize or peanut cultivation as well as the breeding of goats and aquatic species.
The coastal area of Go Cong Dong, a major agricultural hub in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, has taken effective measures against drought and saltwater intrusion into rivers this year.
Because of climate change, Kien Giang province is struggling to maintain its place as Vietnam’s biggest rice producer – a distinction it has held for nearly two decades.
HCM City is seeking help from the Prime Minister to resolve a financial conflict that has led to the suspension of the city’s multi-million dollar anti-flooding project.
The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang is working on measures to cope with saltwater intrusion, according to the provincial Irrigation Sub-Department.
Experts gathered at a workshop in Hanoi on December 14 to seek measures to enhance water resources security amid climate change and energy development in the Mekong Delta region.
The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has petitioned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to grant funds for repairing 28 reservoirs that threaten production and livelihoods of local residents.
With the monsoon approaching, the condition of hundreds of reservoirs in the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and Quang Tri has increased concerns of possible danger.
The Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh has asked the government for 76 billion VND in financial support to help the province cope with drought and saline intrusion in the dry season in 2017.
The government of HCM City on June 3 signed a 450-million-USD contract with a private company for a project to prevent tidal flooding in a 570-sq km area of the city.
Experts have proposed using the Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal as a reservoir to regulate water as urban floods have become more serious during the rainy season in HCM City.
Spending 2,802 VND on producing one kilogramme of rice, the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang recorded the lowest production costs in the region during the 2015-2016 winter-spring crop.
The Mekong Delta plans to plant more than 1.5 million ha of rice for the 2015-16 winter-spring rice crop, but it faces saline intrusion and a water shortage because of the Mekong River's low water.
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