On September 26, the Southern Institute of Water Resources Planning's electronic information portal updated the news on water resources developments in the past week (September 19 - 25) and water resources forecast in the Mekong Delta region from September 26 - October 5.
Accordingly, in the past week, the main weather pattern affecting the Mekong River basin was the southwest monsoon and the circulation of storm No. 4, causing high levels of rain in the basin.
Water levels are low and tend to increase sharply due to increased upstream floods combined with high tides. Water levels in Tan Chau and Chau Doc reached their highest peak since the beginning of the flood season on September 22 (Tan Chau 3.13 m, Chau Doc 2.88 m), water levels then tended to change slowly and then decrease slightly.
Water level in the upper region increases, the middle region decreases and the coastal region of the Mekong Delta both have a decreasing trend.
It is forecasted that in the next 5 days, the 7-hour water level at stations on the Mekong mainstream such as Kratie station will tend to decrease quite sharply, Prek Kdam station will increase slightly in the next 2-3 days and then decrease again. The highest daily water level at Tan Chau and Chau Doc will tend to increase, most likely reaching the peak of the main flood season in 2024 at the end of September and the beginning of October (September 30 to October 2).
The flood peak at Tan Chau station is forecast to fluctuate at 3.2-3.4 m (Alarm level 1: 3.5 m), the flood peak at Chau Doc station is forecast to fluctuate at 3.0-3.2 m (Alarm level 1: 3.0 m); rain in the lower Mekong River basin is low and tends to decrease; rain in the Mekong Delta is average and tends to decrease; tides are low and tend to increase next week.
In the next 10 days, water levels in the upper Mekong Delta are forecast to increase due to upstream floods combined with tides. Water levels are forecast to generally be at or above the BDI level.
Water levels at stations in the middle of the Mekong Delta tend to increase, water levels are forecast to vary from BDI-BDII and above BDII, some stations will exceed BDIII in early October.
Water levels at coastal stations in the Mekong Delta are below BDI level, some stations are above BDI level. In particular, at Ca Mau station, water levels are forecast to generally be above BDIII level due to high tides combined with local rain.
Water levels at stations in the East Coast tend to increase. Water levels at stations in the West Coast tend to decrease until October 2, then increase slightly again and change according to the tide.
In general, the forecasted high tides in late September and early October this year are not high, but in the central area of Ca Mau peninsula, they are still high. Many water level stations in this area are forecast to exceed level 3, such as Vi Thanh station (Hau Giang), Phuoc Long station (Bac Lieu) and Ca Mau station.
The Southern Institute of Water Resources Planning recommends that localities proactively take measures to respond to possible flooding risks.
