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Increase of water discharge from China to help mitigate drought in Vietnam: minister

Xinhua, April 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

The increase of water discharge from a Chinese dam will help mitigate the drought and saline intrusion situation in some areas in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, said a Vietnamese minister.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat made the remark at a meeting on Tuesday in capital Hanoi to call for support to implement the emergency response plan for drought and saline intrusion, Vietnam's state-run news agency reported on Wednesday.

China has increased the volume of water discharge from Jinghong Hydropower Station in southwest China's Yunnan Province to the lower Mekong River.

Phat said water levels in the Mekong River rose in the first half of April when China started releasing water from March 15 to April 10, helping ease saltwater intrusion. However, after that, water soon receded and saline encroachment got worse.

The minister said that water released from Jinghong dam at 1,500 cubic meters per second from April 21 is expected to reach Vietnam in about 18 to 20 days. The water discharge this time will be maintained until May 31.

In Vietnam's southern Mekong Delta, the drought and decrease in groundwater levels have resulted in the most extensive saltwater intrusion in 90 years, the worst since records began.

While saltwater intrusion is an annual phenomenon, this year it started nearly two months earlier than normal and has penetrated an average 20--30 kilometer further inland.

As a result of the drought and saltwater intrusion, more than 400,000 hectares of crops have been affected with varying degrees of productivity loss, and 25,900 hectares have not been planted at all.

Mekong River originates in China and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is known as Lancang in the Chinese stretch. Enditem