Vietnam's southern Mekong Delta to deal with salinity intrusion

Vietnam's southern Mekong Delta region will have to face fresh water shortage due to massive salinity intrusion in March, according to the Vietnamese Southern Irrigation Science Institute on Tuesday. Specifically, an influx of saline water is predicted to flow 40- 60 km inland into the Mekong Delta's coastal provinces in March, and the intrusion will cause a shortage of fresh water for households to use during the dry season, local Vietnam News daily reported Tuesday with sources from the institute. The delta's coastal provinces have implemented measures to control saline water intrusion, including closing sluice gates at river mouths to prevent saline water from entering rice fields and fruit orchards. Soc Trang Province has closed sluice gates in Long Phu and Tran De districts to prevent saline water from entering rice fields. According to the province's Irrigation, Storm and Flood Prevention and Control Committee, the salt content in the water of the Hau River in Long Phu's Dai Ngai Commune now exceeds 0.15 percent as high tides and strong winds last weekend caused saline water to flow unexpectedly deep into rice fields. Ben Tre Province has built dykes around fruit orchards in Cho Lach District. The province has also built a water supply system to transport fresh water from the Ba Lai Reservoir to Binh Dai District to provide fresh water for thousands of local households. In Tien Giang Province, saline water could affect about 4,700 ha of the winter-spring rice crop, local officials said. The province plans to build 173 dams, install pumps to pump water at 178 sites and dredge 146 canals in rice fields to supply fresh water for the affected areas. Along with that, local authorities will open public taps at water supply stations to supply free fresh water for local people. The influx of saline water in local rivers will increase between now and April, according to the provincial Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.