According to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper on January 31, in Thanh Hai Commune (Thanh Phu District, Ben Tre Province), local people said they use well water for agricultural production. This is the main source of water for irrigation of crops.
As a watermelon farmer, Mr. Quoc (49 years old, residing in Thanh Hai commune, Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province) - said that in this area, most people use well water to irrigate their crops. Well water is sweet, not salty, very suitable for watering plants. Without well water, his family's watermelon garden would certainly dry up.
"To cope with the dry season, I covered the plants with straw or tarpaulin to keep the moisture," said Mr. Quoc.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Danh (Long Thoi commune, Cho Lach district, Ben Tre province) said that after having experience in coping with the historic drought and salinity in the 2019-2020 dry season, farmers in the area now have solutions to find fresh water sources when drought and salinity occur. Therefore, most farmers are no longer worried.
“When the authorities predicted the drought and salinity, my family checked the water pumps and wells to be ready to get water if the salinity intrudes further. When the locality closes all the sluices, my family will use the well water to water the plants. As for domestic water, we use water from the water supply station, so we don’t have to worry about water shortages,” Danh shared.
According to the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, the possibility of salinity intrusion in the coastal areas of the Mekong Delta is forecast to increase and last for the first half of February as well as the end of February. The salinity boundary of 4g/l can penetrate 45-55km deep. Localities need to take advantage of storing fresh water to ensure enough water for production, while strengthening salinity monitoring and monitoring and updating forecast bulletins.
The Southern Institute of Water Resources Research recommends that localities in the coastal areas of the Mekong Delta need to prepare plans to respond to unusual saline intrusion, which may affect water resources and production in coastal irrigation systems such as Go Cong, North Ben Tre, Tra Vinh coastal areas and the Long Phu - Tiep Nhat system. Therefore, it is necessary to store and use water reasonably, especially ensuring water resources for fruit growing areas in Chau Thanh, Cho Lach, Mo Cay Bac - Nam districts (Ben Tre province) and Ke Sach district (Soc Trang province).
