The Kenh Lap Reservoir in Ben Tre province’s Ba Tri district is drying up because of the impact of drought and saltwater intrusion (Photo: VNA)BenTre (VNA) - The Kenh Lap Reservoir in Ben Tre province, the largest inthe Mekong Delta, is drying up due to drought and saltwater intrusion, leavingthousands of households facing a water shortage.
The reservoir in Ba Tri districtis nearly 5km long and 40 -100m wide. It used to be a canal running intothe Ba Lai River, and was converted into a reservoir last year.
It has a capacity of more than800,000 cu.m and supplies water to 200,000 people in the district.
Ho Van Thuong, deputy head ofthe district’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said because ofprolonged drought and saltwater intrusion since the end of last year, all thewater in the reservoir has been drawn and it has little left.
It has not received water sinceJanuary 10 because the 9A Canal, which supplies it water, was affected bysaltwater intrusion.
Ba Tri has more than 11,000households facing a water shortage because all 12 water supply plants andpumping stations in the district have been affected by saltwater intrusion,according to its People’s Committee.
The committee has called ondonations of water, containers and purifiers to help local people overcome thecrippling shortage.
Donors have provided thousandsof cubic metres of freshwater and more than 5,000 containers, funded drillingof more than 100 wells and installed 66 purifiers for filtering saltwater inpublic places to provide free water to locals.
Ben Tre is one of the delta’scoastal provinces facing severe saltwater intrusion, which is expected to lastuntil May, according to the province’s Centre for Hydro-MeteorologyForecasting./.
