In the days leading up to Tet, farmers along the Tien River from Cai Be District to My Tho City (Tien Giang Province) were excited because the sluices had been completed and put into use. When hearing the forecast that saltwater would penetrate deep during the Tet At Ty 2025, the people here said they were reassured because the agricultural production area no longer feared a lack of fresh water for irrigation and daily life.
Mr. Le Van Bay - resident of Song Thuan commune, Chau Thanh district, Tien Giang province - said that every year around February or March, salt water often intrudes into Tien river, reaching Chau Thanh district. With Nguyen Tan Thanh sluice and 6 sluices along Tien river put into use, people here are very secure because it will help prevent salt water intrusion, store fresh water for agricultural production and not fear of shortage of daily life.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Thinh - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tien Giang province - shared that Nguyen Tan Thanh sluice gate is the sluice gate to prevent salinity and store fresh water with the largest sluice gate aperture (40m) and the second largest scale in the Mekong Delta region, only after Cai Lon - Cai Be sluice gate in Kien Giang. The project aims to improve the capacity to store fresh water, control high tides and salinity intrusion, and regulate water sources for agriculture and industry for an area of about 12,580 hectares of Tien Giang province.
Together with 6 saltwater prevention sluices at the canals leading to Tien River on Provincial Road 864 that have just been completed, Nguyen Tan Thanh sluice will create a closed system of saltwater prevention, fresh water storage, and high tide prevention, protecting production and people's lives.
Mr. Bui Duy Lieu - Management Board of Irrigation Investment and Construction Project 10 (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) - informed that after many years of facing high saline intrusion in the dry season, Nguyen Tan Thanh sluice gate with an investment capital of more than 500 billion VND is expected to be a highly effective solution. Since the project was completed at the beginning of the dry season 2024 - 2025, it has proactively controlled water resources, prevented salinity, kept fresh water, solved pollution and provided fresh water for thousands of hectares of agricultural land. In addition, it also provides raw water for Dong Tam BOT water plants serving 800,000 people in Tien Giang province.
“Tien Giang people highly appreciate the effectiveness of the project not only in protecting production but also in improving the quality of life and reducing groundwater exploitation when drought and salinity occur. The success of the project is a testament to the importance of proper investment projects in the context of climate change. In the future, similar projects need to be implemented synchronously to ensure water resources and sustainable agricultural development,” Mr. Lieu informed.
According to the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, the flow to the delta is forecast to decrease rapidly. As early as January 2025, saltwater has penetrated deep into the river mouths and is forecast to peak between February and April 2025.
