Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha works with Mekong Delta provinces on drought and salinity prevention and control

Working scene.

Attending the working session on behalf of Tien Giang province were Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Vinh and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Pham Van Trong.

According to the People's Committee of Tien Giang province, based on forecasts from specialized agencies and directions from the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development , the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee have issued over 30 documents directing the implementation of drought and salinity prevention and control to protect production and provide rural water for daily life in Tien Giang province.

The province has declared an emergency situation regarding natural disasters such as saltwater intrusion and lack of domestic water in Tan Phu Dong district, Tien Giang province.

For the western region of Tien Giang province, domestic water supply for people is guaranteed. For the eastern region of the province, Dong Tam Water Plant operates and produces stably, with output capacity fluctuating between 68,000 - 70,000 ^m3 /day and night.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha delivered concluding remarks at the meeting.

With the amount of water stored in the reservoir, combined with pumping from the Sau Au - Xoai Hot canal and operating 6 backup wells, the production activities of Dong Tam Water Plant are basically stable.

Currently, the hot season is at its peak, the demand for water is high, the water source in canals and ponds in the fields has been exhausted. Most of the water supply stations are operating normally, some stations have reduced production capacity or stopped producing water due to lack of raw water. The area of the eastern districts of Tien Giang province is short of about 25,000 ^m3 /day and night.

Tien Giang Water Supply Company Limited is regulating water supply by day and by area to meet people's water needs and coordinating with the People's Committees of districts and towns in the East of the province to open public water taps in difficult areas with water shortages for people to come and get free water, providing domestic water for people.

Up to now, Tien Giang province has opened 101 public water taps, the total amount of water supplied so far is 6,344 ^m3 , the number of public water taps will continue to change in the coming time.

In addition, Tien Giang Water Supply Company Limited has equipped and transported 63 water tanks to provide free water to people in some areas lacking water at the end of the source, located at 40 points in need of water and loaded onto water transport vehicles to provide free water to people in areas lacking water at the end of the source.

Comrade Le Minh Hoan spoke at the meeting.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan spoke at the meeting.

The People's Committees of communes and towns in the eastern districts and towns of Tien Giang province have organized forces and vehicles to transport water to places where it is provided free of charge to single-parent households and the elderly who are unable to get water from public taps and water tanks.

In addition, many benefactors have used water and land vehicles (barges, tankers, water trucks of all kinds) to transport fresh water to distribute for free at residential areas, commune centers, commune health stations and to the homes of poor and single households. This has contributed significantly to solving the current shortage of domestic water in the eastern districts and towns of Tien Giang province.

Particularly for Tan Phu Dong district, Tien Giang province, the water demand in the district during the peak of hot weather is currently nearly 10,000 ^m3 /day, a shortage of 1,700 ^m3 /day.

Tien Giang Water Supply Company Limited has been operating to regulate water supply, supplying water through public taps to downstream areas that are lacking water. Currently, Tien Giang Provincial People's Committee is considering the time to transport fresh water to supplement 2 raw water ponds in Tan Phu Dong district.

In general, thanks to proactively implementing solutions to prevent and combat drought and salinity, Tien Giang has successfully protected and harvested 44,883 hectares of winter-spring rice in 2023 - 2024; 21,720 hectares of various vegetables and food crops; and provided enough irrigation water for 84,192 hectares of fruit trees.

Up to this point, drought and salinity have not caused damage to agricultural production. Rural water supply in Tien Giang province is basically stable at present.

Tien Giang Water Supply Company Limited has adjusted the water supply zoning for each area in the eastern districts and towns of the province that are lacking water due to dry reservoirs with no source of supply, forcing water supply stations to stop producing water.

Comrade Dang Quoc Khanh spoke at the meeting.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh speaks at the meeting.

Therefore, areas in the eastern districts and towns of Tien Giang province have water on a daily basis. However, there are still cases where the downstream area has weak water flow or no water flow for a certain period of time.

Also at the meeting, Tien Giang province proposed that the Central Government support the province in building Tra Tan and Ba Rai sluices to close the Bao Dinh Expansion Project area to protect about 130,000 hectares of agricultural land for the two provinces of Tien Giang and Long An; including 70,000 hectares of fruit gardens with high economic value of Tien Giang province.

At the same time, it is recommended that the Central Government support the province to upgrade and expand water reservoirs. Specifically, upgrading and expanding Phu Thanh pond by 10 hectares and Tan Thoi pond by 6 hectares, with a budget of 160 billion VND to serve the people of Tan Phu Dong district; upgrading and expanding Gia Thuan pond by 10 hectares, Binh Thanh pond by 30 hectares, Go Gua pond by 15 hectares, with an estimated budget of 300 billion VND to serve the people of Go Cong Dong district, Go Cong Tay district and Go Cong town.

Also at the meeting, provinces in the Mekong Delta region reported on the situation of drought and salinity prevention and control in their localities. At the same time, there were proposals and recommendations for the Government to consider and support localities in implementing drought and salinity prevention and control work...

Comrade Nguyen Van Vinh reported on drought and salinity prevention and control work in Tien Giang province.

Chairman of Tien Giang Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Vinh reported on drought and salinity prevention and control work in Tien Giang province.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha said that heat, drought, saltwater intrusion and subsidence are common issues in the Mekong Delta. We have truly adapted and lived with saltwater intrusion.

In the current context, climate change and extreme weather are becoming more and more severe and difficult. Tien Giang and other localities have implemented many synchronous solutions on irrigation infrastructure and non-structural projects, showing that the provinces have controlled the drought and salinity situation.

Especially with the proactive provision of full and accurate information and production management of the region, compared to previous droughts and salinity, the dry season of 2024, production and business activities of localities are mostly unaffected. Domestic water shortages do occur, but are localized in localities.

Basically, people are still provided with centralized water from the state or public-private form. Localities are very responsible in providing domestic water to people.

Specifically, in Tien Giang, based on forecasts from professional agencies, the province has proactively responded to areas with potential water shortages.

So far, the heat, drought and saltwater intrusion this year have not been as severe as in 2019-2020, but have been more severe than many years. However, localities have had plans and projects, especially in directing and operating, promoting on-site, providing centralized water, providing information and people's participation and awareness in water reserves...

On behalf of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha acknowledged the efforts of localities in preventing and combating drought and salinity.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the experience in coping with drought and salinity of localities needs to have a vision for the delta and be placed in the context of a more extreme situation due to a lack of fresh water from upstream. Therefore, we must proactively live with drought and salinity and have fundamental and synchronous solutions across the region as well as locally.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha agreed to invest in irrigation infrastructure systems based on the nature of water resources. In the long term, localities must calculate the connection between water supply plants to bring clean water to the people.

At the same time, for sparsely populated areas and difficult locations, it is necessary to consider relocating the population, including landslide areas. Only when the population is concentrated can infrastructure such as electricity, roads, schools, stations, water, etc. be arranged.

Coastal areas must review their economic, agricultural and fishery structures, transform livestock and crop structures and apply adaptive technologies.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that it is necessary to calculate water supply stations whose water intake areas are located deep in freshwater areas; invest in systems that ensure capacity and long-term maintenance.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested relevant ministries and sectors to study the application of materials to produce light and convenient underground and rooftop water tanks; research and popularize this model...

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