The Central Highlands is entering the peak period of the dry season. Water levels and flows on rivers and streams gradually decrease and remain lower than average for many years. Thousands of farmers drilled wells and dug into lake beds to get water in an attempt to save crops.
In Gia Lai Province, Bau Nai, a 12 hectare-lake in Chu Prong District, is running out of water. Tran Van Ky, 48, seemed worried about his 4,000 withering coffee trees about 500 m away from the lake.
Ky said the lake has been dry for about a month now, people have had to dig trenches and hire excavators to dig deep to get water. His family alone spent more than VND30 million to rent an excavator. After watering three times, the water was not enough, so he continued to spend money to buy a pipeline to pump water to another lake two kilometers away to save the crops.
According to Ky, in the dry season of 2016, Bau Nai Lake also dried up, but not as bad as this year. Every year, people pump water mainly for coffee and tea, but now the water source also serves sweet potatoes, so the water source has run out.
Due to water shortage, two acres of rice of Ksor Phung's family, in Ia Dêr commune, Ia Grai district, were dry, burned and withered. Phung had to hire someone to harvest a week early.
"Every year we harvest about 18 bags of rice, each bag is 60 kg, but this year there is a lack of water, so maybe we’ll only get a few bags," Phung said.
The clean water tank has run out and people in Ayun had to go to the water hole next to the Ayun River to get water for daily use twice a day, in the morning and afternoon.
The 15 m deep well of the family of Rlan Huynh, 45, in Kong HToc commune, Chu Se has been dried up for the past month.
"We couldn't keep asking neighbors for water, so our family hired someone to dig 5 m deeper into the well," Huynh said.
In Kon Tum Province, C3 reservoir, Ha Mon Commune, Dak Ha District has an area of 2 km2, a capacity of 370,000 m3, serving irrigation for more than 200 hectares of crops in Binh Minh Village. But now there’s only a small puddle, with the surface cracked and dry.
The C3 reservoir water is turbid, contaminated with alum, easily causing harm to plants but many households are forced to use this water source to irrigate coffee gardens hundreds of meters away.
According to Kon Tum Irrigation Department, the locality has 80 irrigation reservoirs. Due to the peak of the dry season, heat waves occur on a large scale and water levels in reservoirs and irrigation works are falling, reaching about 60% of design capacity.
In Po Co River, the section bordering Kon Tum City with Sa Thay District was dried up.
Kon Tum Hydrometeorological Station warns that in April and May, Kon Tum City and the districts of Sa Thay, Ia H'Drai, Dak Ha, Dak To, Ngoc Hoi, Kon Ray and Dak Glei are at high risk of water deficiency on a large scale.
In Dak Bla River, the section flowing through Kon Ray District and Kon Tum City has a 40-65% lower water flow and 0.2-1.2 m lower water level than previous years.
A Xoan at Kroong Commune, Kom Tum pumped water from the bed of Po Co River to water 300 withering coffee trees.
Lake 40, Dak Lao Commune, Dak Mil District, Dak Nong Province has ran out of water. To get the water for coffee, people rented a machine to discharge from Lake 1 lake into Lake 40, then pump it to the fields. The rental price for one hour is VND120,000 ($4.8).
Dak Lao commune has about 5,400 hectares of coffee and pepper. The locality has seven large dams providing water for crops, of which only Lake 1 still has water. In Dak Nong Province, about 8,600 hectares of crops are at risk of water shortage.
According to the Central Highlands Hydrometeorological Station, due to the influence of El Nino, the temperature in this year's dry season is higher than the average of many years. At the same time, the dry season will last longer due to the late arrival of the rainy season.
Nguyen Van Huan, head of Forecasting Department, said that by the end of April, the region is likely to suffer more intense heat waves and more intense droughts. This unit recommends that authorities in the Central Highlands provinces plan to use water sources strictly, irrigate properly and reserve enough water for production until the rainy season.
According to Huan, it is forecast that this year's rainy season in the Central Highlands will arrive about 15-20 days late in some places compared to previous years. Even during the rainy season, there is still a possibility of water shortage due to intermittent rain, so drought can still occur.
