Residents in Kien Giang province's Rach Gia city scrambled to findany kind of container in sight to help collect rain in the morning ofJuly 14.
The pregnant clouds broke a weeks-long drought caused by saline intrusion, but they only offered a brief respite.
TheKien Giang Water Supply and Sewerage Limited Company (Kiwaco) – themain water supplier in the area – said it only had enough water tosatisfy local hospitals and residents' daily use for a few days.
KiwacoDirector Nguyen Duc Hien said the main reservoir of the Rach Gia WaterPlant has completely dried up. On July 13, Kiwaco had to use 14 watertank trucks to transport water from its 50,000cu.m standby reservoir tosupply water to hospitals, schools and some residential areas.
"Withthe standby reservoir, Kiwaco can only satisfy basic daily water needsfor important areas in Rach Gia City for just 10-15 days," said Hien.
Sincethe start of July, Kiwaco's fresh water supply had been cut off. TheRach Gia – Long Xuyen Canal, which supplies raw water to the company'sreservoirs, recorded a high level of salinity.
The water levelsin the area's rivers and canals are also lower than last year. With hightides, seawater moved further inland than usual.
Le Xuan Hien,Deputy Director of the province's Centre for Hydro-MeteorologicalForecasting, said the salinity of water in the Rach Gia – Long XuyenCanal reached 0.7 percent as of July 12. Since 1990, the canal's Julysalinity readings had always been between 0.2-0.3 percent. This year'snumber marks a drastic departure.
The weather forecast showslittle chance of rain for the rest of this month, so the salinity ofwater in canals in Rach Gia City and Hon Dat, Tan Hiep, Kien Luong andGiang Thanh districts is expected to increase, Xuan Hien said.
Atan urgent meeting on early this week, the deputy chairman of theprovincial People's Committee, Mai Van Huynh, asked Kiwaco and otheragencies to transport water from other places to the city by barge,fire-fighting vehicles and water tank trucks. He also urged householdswith bored wells to share water with their neighbours.-VNA
The pregnant clouds broke a weeks-long drought caused by saline intrusion, but they only offered a brief respite.
TheKien Giang Water Supply and Sewerage Limited Company (Kiwaco) – themain water supplier in the area – said it only had enough water tosatisfy local hospitals and residents' daily use for a few days.
KiwacoDirector Nguyen Duc Hien said the main reservoir of the Rach Gia WaterPlant has completely dried up. On July 13, Kiwaco had to use 14 watertank trucks to transport water from its 50,000cu.m standby reservoir tosupply water to hospitals, schools and some residential areas.
"Withthe standby reservoir, Kiwaco can only satisfy basic daily water needsfor important areas in Rach Gia City for just 10-15 days," said Hien.
Sincethe start of July, Kiwaco's fresh water supply had been cut off. TheRach Gia – Long Xuyen Canal, which supplies raw water to the company'sreservoirs, recorded a high level of salinity.
The water levelsin the area's rivers and canals are also lower than last year. With hightides, seawater moved further inland than usual.
Le Xuan Hien,Deputy Director of the province's Centre for Hydro-MeteorologicalForecasting, said the salinity of water in the Rach Gia – Long XuyenCanal reached 0.7 percent as of July 12. Since 1990, the canal's Julysalinity readings had always been between 0.2-0.3 percent. This year'snumber marks a drastic departure.
The weather forecast showslittle chance of rain for the rest of this month, so the salinity ofwater in canals in Rach Gia City and Hon Dat, Tan Hiep, Kien Luong andGiang Thanh districts is expected to increase, Xuan Hien said.
Atan urgent meeting on early this week, the deputy chairman of theprovincial People's Committee, Mai Van Huynh, asked Kiwaco and otheragencies to transport water from other places to the city by barge,fire-fighting vehicles and water tank trucks. He also urged householdswith bored wells to share water with their neighbours.-VNA
