Thursday January 11, 2024
Vietnam News —
Saltwater intrusion from the sea into the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta’s waterbodies is expected to peak in March, according to the Directorate of Water Resources.
The country’s largest producer of rice, fruit and seafood suffers from the intrusion in the dry season every year.
The directorate said saltwater with salinity of 4 grammes per litre is likely to enter 45-55km into the Mekong River’s tributaries this month, 5-8km deeper than in the same period last year.
Most crops can only tolerate salinity of 1 gramme per litre.
Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, head of the directorate’s irrigation and operation management division, said the intrusion would be worse than normal but not as bad as the 2015-16 and 2019-20 seasons.