Store fresh water for irrigation
According to Lao Dong Newspaper reporters on December 4, most farmers growing fruit trees along Provincial Road 864 (from My Tho City to Cai Be District) have stored fresh water in their fields for irrigation and to cope with the 2024-2025 drought and salinity.
Mr. Le Van Phuoc Lac - Director of Phu An Agricultural Service Cooperative (Cai Lay District, Tien Giang Province) - said that the cooperative has about 325 hectares of durian. "When hearing the forecast of the authorities about the upcoming drought and salinity, the members of the cooperative stored fresh water in the fields. This water source will be used for daily life and irrigation during the drought and salinity period," said Mr. Lac.
Similarly, Mr. Vo Van My (living in Cai Lay district) said that his family grows durian on an area of 7,000 m2. Hearing the forecast of upcoming drought and salinity, he proactively pumped and stored fresh water in the garden ditches, regularly adding fresh water to the ditches to proactively irrigate during the drought and salinity period.
Protect production areas
Mr. Nguyen Duc Thinh - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tien Giang province - shared that 7 saltwater prevention sluices at the canals leading to Tien River on Provincial Road 864 have been completed and put into use, creating a closed system of sluices to prevent saltwater intrusion, store fresh water, and prevent high tides, protecting production and people's lives in this area.
Mr. Thinh added that the locality is stepping up propaganda to local people to store fresh water in canals and water containers for irrigation and daily use when drought and salinity occur.
According to the forecast of water resources to the coastal areas of the Mekong Delta by the Southern Institute of Water Resources, the salinity boundary in December is at a depth of 15 - 20km, ensuring water resources. Hydropower operations may change the flow regime compared to the forecast. To ensure production, it is necessary to strengthen salinity monitoring and update forecast bulletins regularly during the dry months.
The Southern Institute of Water Resources Research recommends that unusual saline intrusion can affect water resources and production in coastal irrigation systems such as Go Cong, North Ben Tre, Tra Vinh coastal areas and Long Phu - Tiep Nhat system. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare response plans and store water appropriately when water resources are not affected by salinity, especially in fruit growing areas in Chau Thanh, Cho Lach, Mo Cay Bac - Nam districts (Ben Tre province), Ke Sach district (Soc Trang province).
For the central Mekong Delta region, where water resources are basically guaranteed, the Southern Institute of Water Resources recommends that this region needs to operate salinity control and water storage works properly. When taking fresh water or irrigating crops, it is necessary to closely check salinity, especially for fruit trees.
According to the forecast of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, the average water flow to the Mekong Delta at Kratie station in the next month (from December 1 to December 31, 2024) is about 5,315 m3/s. A decrease of about 1,032 m3/s compared to November 2024, about 152 m3/s lower than the average flow in the same period in 2023 (5,467 m3/s). Reservoirs in the Mekong River basin in China have a regulated capacity of 22.47 billion m3, equivalent to 94.5% of the total useful capacity. Reservoirs in the lower Mekong basin have 80.8% of the total useful capacity, corresponding to the total water capacity that can be regulated for the dry season in 2024-2025 of about 56.17 billion m3.
