Mekong Delta struggles to find freshwater as drought, salt intrusion continue

In Ben Tre, like much of the rest of the Mekong Delta, drought and saltwater have rendered rivers and canals barren or too salty. Thousands of people lack water as a result and have to buy it for VND100,000-300,000 ($4.26-12.78) per cubic meter. Some individuals and businesses are pitching in and providing water to people free of charge.

A business in Binh Duong Province, which neighbors Saigon, dispatched a barge with 1,200 cubic meters of water (pictured) to Ben Tre's Ward 7 to fill two reservoirs on March 15.

The Ben Tre fire department also deployed two trucks to transport water from it to many places around the province.

A fireman works the pipes to unload water from one of the trucks.

People in Ben Tre collect water from vehicles.

A man helps a woman tie a water can onto a motorbike. A motorbike can carry two cans of 30 liters each, enough for a day for a family of four if used sparingly.

Nguyen Minh Huan, 66, uses a wheelbarrow to carry water cans.

He said: "Water is now as precious as gold, so I have to carry them carefully. It would be a sin to waste even a single drop of water that people have brought here from hundreds of kilometers away."

Tran Van Vinh, 74, uses a wheelchair to carry water back home, about 1.5 kilometers away. Vinh had a stroke years ago. His daughter-in-law lost an arm in a workplace accident and now cooks for a local pagoda while his son works as a manual laborer. Vinh often stays home with his one-year-old grandchild.

Vinh's wife pours the water into a plastic tub to store it.

He said: "I ride my wheelchair to collect water every day. It's a little tough, but my grandchild has freshwater to bathe that way."

Nguyen Bach Tuyet, 67, of Tien Giang Province, 40 km from Ben Tre, rides half a kilometer on her bike to fetch water.

She lives alone in Vinh Huu Commune, Go Cong Tay District, since her son works elsewhere. She has been fetching water for nearly two months now.

"I'm old and so can only ride once a day. I use the water sparingly, but since I use it for bathing, washing and cooking, it always runs out at the end of the day. I just wish the rain would come so that people don't have to suffer so much."

Phan Thi Thu, 56, supplies water to the community for free at her house also in Vinh Huu. For a month now Thu, whose family trades construction materials, has been sending trucks to a nearby water company every day to collect water and distribute it.

She and her husband wake up at 3 a.m. every day and turn on the lights so that people can come and collect the water. They distribute around 24 cubic meters every day and the task takes around four hours.

She said: "This is the first time I see such a bad water shortage. For nearly a month now I and my husband have had to stay up late. It's tiring, but seeing how people suffer so much, I decided I will help them as much as I can."

Two women carry water bottles on their bikes.

Drought and salt intrusion are especially bad in the Mekong Delta this year, even worse than in 2016, which was an annus horribilis. Some 40,000 hectares of paddy have been damaged, and 95,000 families lack water for daily use. Five delta provinces, Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Kien Giang, and Ca Mau, have declared an emergency.

The drought would last through April, experts have warned.