On November 27, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Lak province informed that this year, the rainy season will end at the end of November.
However, up to now, only medium and small reservoirs managed by localities in the districts of Krong Nang, Cu Kuin, Krong Ana... have basically reached normal water levels.
Districts such as M’Drak, Ea Kar, Lak, Ea H’leo… only reached 50 – 80%. The reason is due to low rainfall, depleted water sources, and the amount of water flowing into the lake does not meet the design requirements.
Of the 252 reservoirs managed by Dak Lak Irrigation Works Management Company, 9 reservoirs still have water levels below 50%; 15 reservoirs have levels from 50 - 70%; 64 reservoirs have levels from 70 - 90% and 164 reservoirs are at normal water levels.
What is more worrying is that most of the small and medium-sized lakes today have a lot of sedimentation in their lake beds, so although they are full of water, they do not guarantee the design capacity.
Mr. Vo Dang Vu - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ea Kar district informed that this year, the rainfall is quite low compared to the same period last year, so the water stored in some dams in the area is still not as expected.
Hopefully, from now until the end of the year, the amount of rainfall will increase to meet the irrigation needs of farmers in the upcoming winter-spring crop. The unit has also made plans and solutions in case of drought to minimize the damage to farmers.
In early 2024, Mr. Y Soan Nie (Lak district, Dak Lak province) lost 3 sao of rice during the dry season. Currently, Mr. Y Soan Nie is thinking of ways to cope if the drought situation continues to recur next year.
"Learning from this year's dry season, in the 2025 Winter-Spring crop, I will continue to research and invest in more pumps and drill wells to supplement irrigation water for crops. If my family is not proactive in irrigation water sources right now, there is a possibility of continued damage and the crops will easily be lost in the upcoming crop year" - Mr. Y Soan shared.
Mr. Nguyen Van Ha - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Lak province said that in the 2024 - 2025 Winter-Spring crop, the whole province plans to plant nearly 63,000 hectares of short-term crops of all kinds.
To ensure water sources for production, localities need to increase propaganda and advise people to use water economically.
Authorities continue to make full use of water storage in ponds, lagoons and other places where conditions permit to serve irrigation needs of the people. Thereby, minimizing losses for farmers in the upcoming dry season.
Previously, Lao Dong Newspaper reported that in the dry season of 2024, Dak Lak province experienced a severe drought. About 4,958 hectares of various crops and some aquaculture ponds were severely affected by the drought.
The average rainfall in the whole province from January to May 2024 reached 24.5mm, which is only 57.8% compared to the average of the same period in previous years.
The province has 858 irrigation works. Of these, there are 619 reservoirs, 161 dams, and 78 pumping stations. However, nearly 70 lakes have run out of water, and 191 lakes are currently below 50% capacity...
Some projects use drilled wells, the groundwater level is lowered, the exploitation flow is reduced, and the possibility of having to supply water alternately.
