The Vietnam Red Cross Society also began sending emergency relief to residents in 11 central, Central Highlands and Mekong Delta provinces suffering from acute drought and saltwater intrusion. At present, many localities in these regions are currently severely hit by drought and saltwater. Especially, all 13 localities in the Mekong Delta region have incurred losses caused by saline intrusion.
Hydrometeorology monitoring data in the Central Highlands, from December 2015 to February 2016, shows rainfall in the region dropped by 40 percent year on year, while water levels in almost all reservoirs fell by between 15-35 percent compared to the average level of previous years. Over 35 percent of rivers and streams and 40 percent of small lakes have become dry.
The Government has asked relevant ministries and sectors to intensify measures to prevent drought, focusing on dredging canals, and building temporary embankments to store water. Earlier in February, the Government leader also agreed to provide 85.1 billion VND (3.8 million USD) for six localities to counter drought and saline intrusion in the 2015 Summer-Autumn crops. It is predicted that drought and saline intrusion will peak in March, but will last until June.
In the 2015-2016 winter-spring crop, there are 339,200ha of rice in coastal Mekong Delta provinces prone to saltwater intrusion and drought, accounting for 21.9 percent of the region’s total rice area, 104,000ha of which have already been severely impacted.
If the drought prolongs till June, nearly 500,000ha of rice will have to remain unsown, equivalent to over 40 percent of the total area of coastal provinces and 30 percent of the overall cultivation acreage in the region.
