The Rach Rang Canal, running through Tran Van Thoi Town of Ca Mau, has run dry after a long period of sunny days. There was only a small streak of water flowing earlier this month.
Locals said the canal is usually 3 m deep, and this is the second time it has run dry; the first time being in 2019. A dry canal may eventually result in erosion, so many families have decided to reinforce the foundation of their homes before the rainy season comes.
Tran Van Thoi District has over 130 eroded canal sections, resulting in damage worth over VND19 billion (US$761,000).
Nguyen Gia Kiet, a fourth grader, easily crosses through the canal without the need for a boat to get to school.
Nguyen Van Ba, 70, said his family has lost about VND10 million (US$400) a month as they cannot sell their coconuts and bananas.
"The roads are eroded and the canals are dry, so merchants cannot come in to purchase agricultural products. For the last three months, our income has been severely impacted," he said, adding that he feeds the bananas to the birds while the coconuts must be discarded.
About 6 km from Ba's house, the family of Duong Thi Mai spends over VND1 million a month to pump water from nearby puddles to grow two hectares of vegetables.
"The water is only enough for around another month. If we use water taken from underground, the electricity bill would be significantly more expensive," she said, adding that she plans to stop growing vegetables after a few more months due to the lack of water.
About 200 km away from Ca Mau's drought areas, a field spanning over 100 ha in Soc Trang Province's Long Phu District is rendered dry. Over 30 ha of fields have seen crops being removed as farmers wait for rain to replant them. In other fields, farmers are pumping in salt-intruded water sources as a last-ditch effort to save the crops.
Tran Thi Hang, 53, stands in a paddy field where the crops have gone yellow instead of green. She said the field has suffered from water shortage over the last month.
"Over VND10 million has already been spent on the crops and fertilizers. Uprooting the crops would be too wasteful, so my husband and I plan to just pump salt-intruded water into the fields, hoping to keep the crops alive," she said.
Water shortages also impact the daily lives of the people of Tien Giang Province's Go Cong Dong District, located around 200 km away from the drought area of Soc Trang.
Despite having several tanks to store rainwater for drinking, the dried-up canals have forced the family of 74-year-old Pham Van Doi to use the rainwater for several purposes.
"It has not rained for months. The water in the tanks has also run out, forcing us to go to the market to purchase drinking water," Doi said.
Severe droughts caused canals to dry up, affecting the lives of around 3,000 families at the coasts of Go Cong Dong.
Nguyen Thanh Loc transports clean water to elderly people for free. Over several months, there has not been enough water for daily use, forcing people to take water from public faucets in other areas, as well as water trucks.
"Every day, I go for a ride to transport water to elderly people, who cannot travel far to secure it themselves," Loc said.
People use 20-liter or 30-liter containers to collect water. They said the region does not have tap water, meaning daily life must depend on canal water. Family members have taken turns to transport water from different stations back to their homes or wait for water trucks to arrive.
"No matter how tired I am, I have to wait in line, as once the water trucks leave, there will be no water left to use," said Le Hoang, a resident.
