Worrying water levels in all 16 reservoirs of central Binh Thuan
province is likely to lead to a widespread drought across the locality,
reported the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The dry season and low rainfall rate last year are to blame for the worst-case scenario, said the department.
Tuy Phong district has thus far borne the brunt of the extreme
condition; all three local reservoirs are running out of water,
particularly the Da Bac reservoir which now contains only 800,000 cubic
metres of its 4.5 million cubic-metre capacity.
Huynh Nhat, a senior officer in charge of Tuy Phong’s agriculture
sector, noted that the prolonged water shortage is severe in the Vinh
Hao and Vinh Tan communes where a number of cultivation activities have
been cut this year.
In Vinh Hao commune, the
available water can serve only 600 of the 1,800 households, forcing a
number of them to pay out of pocket at a relatively high cost of
90,000-250,000 VND (4-12 USD) per cubic meter of water.
Programmes to improve and expand clean water supply sources in Binh
Thuan have been prioritised but the efforts cannot match the increasing
water demand.
Provincial authorities have focused
on implementing drought prevention measures in a bid to save thousands
of hectares of crops.-VNA