Mekong Delta faces fresh water shortage

The Mekong Delta is predicted to face a severe drought in the 2009 dry season. This is due to an exhaustion of water in main rivers in the region coupled with an large intrusion of sea water inland, particularly in costal areas in mid March.

Lack of water threatens many farms in Mekong Delta.

The Mekong used to be a very fertile delta with immense paddy fields and orchards laden with fruits during all seasons. This was thanks to silt deposited by the rivers and the abundant supply of water from the meandering networks of canals in the region.

Today, the delta now faces a severe shortage of fresh water. Over the past eight years, the highest water level in Tan Chau, the riverhead area that receives water flowing from Cambodia into Vietnam, is 0.8 meters lower than previous years.

In the dry season of 2006, the output of water in Tien and Hau Rivers was 1,600 cubic meters a second instead of 2,500 cubic meters a second as it was 30 years ago.

Ky Quang Vinh, director of the Can Tho City Center for Environmental and Natural Resources Monitoring, predicts a severe shortage of water in the Mekong Delta in the coming dry seasons, as well as an ever greater intrusion of salt water inland.

Dr. Duong Van Ni, of the Center for Biodiversity Resources Education & Development (CEBRED) - Can Tho University, warns that at present the total area of land that contains or absorbs fresh water in the delta has reduced by 60 percent compared with 1968.

One of the causes, according to Dr Ni, is that locals have filled and leveled many ponds and lagoons for more rice-growing land and at the same time speeding up drainage to increase productivity.

Duong Nghia Quoc, deputy director of Dong Thap Agricultural and Rural Development, acknowledged the severe shortage of water in the province by pointing out that only 80 percent of local people have access to safe fresh water. The remaining, who live on the banks of canals and ditches have to use polluted water for daily living.

In effort to ensure an adequate supply of water for farmers’ production for this summer-autumn’s crops, relevant authorities in the delta have had the beds of rivers and canals dredged.

Mr Quoc said, “There will be enough water for irrigation, but it will take farmers a lot of time to pump the water into their paddy fields because they have to stay up late to wait for the water to get high enough and have to pump, not one time, but several times. Gone are the days when farmers only irrigated in the morning.”

Salt concentration of sea water intrusion inland may reach four to five percent

At present, the salt concentration of sea water intrusion inland is one percent. The Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute, however, has recently warned that the concentration may reach four to five percent in the coming future, leading to the extinction of many freshwater species and fruits in the region.

Dr. Ni however said that what he worries most now is the lack of safe water for daily living.

He pointed out that Hau River is the main source of water for all water stations in Can Tho. Since Hau is the downstream of the Tien and Hau river system, its output is very low in the dry season.

“Fuel tankers travel on Hau River everyday,“ Ni emphasized, “There would be no substitutive source of water for the water plants if a fuel tank accident took place on the river or plants nearby dumped wastewater into it.”

Coping with the problems

To ensure an adequate supply of fresh water for local people’s daily living and farming, the government has invested some VND600 billion ($34.3 million) in the first phase of O Mon – Xa No irrigation project, which has been built to store up and supply water to 45,000 hectares of land in Can Tho City, Hau Giang and Kien Giang Provinces.

At present, the Can Tho City People’s Committee is asking for more funds from the government to carry out the second phase in which hundreds of drains and cannels will be dredged. Once completed, the project is expected to supply fresh water for daily living to dozens of thousands of families in the region.

At present, Dr Ni has appealed to local people to build reservoirs to store up rainwater and save water in farming, as these are two of the many positive steps that can be taken to cope with the current and future shortage of water in the region. 

VietNamNet/SGGP