According to the Southern Region Irrigation Sciences Institute, from March to April 2009, salt water may deeply encroach into the Mekong Delta from 50km-65km and up to 70km in May. Last dry season, the encroachment was nearly 65km.

In Tra Vinh, salt-water encroachment has become serious. The current salt content is 0.037% for the Cau Quan area of the Hau River. The local authorities have had to close all sewer doors to prevent salt water from running into inner fields.

In Bac Lieu province, the salt content of water in Ninh Quoi and Hong Dan has highly increased since February, ranging between 0.075% to 0.085%. When the tide comes in, around 5,500ha of rice is covered by salt water (rice will die when the saltiness is over 0.04%). Many farmers in Bac Lieu are worrying that they may lose around 32,000ha or rice, which are not to be harvested till late March. According to experts, April is often the month of fresh water exhaustion from the Hau River to Quang Lo-Phung Hiep so farmers have been told to harvest rice early.

In Ca Mau and Bac Lieu provinces, dikes preventing salt water are dilapidated, turning a vast area of land which was rehabilitated from alum earth into agricultural earth into alum earth again.

VietNamNet/NLD