A boy looks for fish in a nearly dry canal in the Long Phu district in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang in early March. Photos by Xinhua, Wang Jian / China Daily and provided to China Daily
Nguyen Thi Lua, a rice farmer in the provincial capital, Ben Tre, said she hopes the water from China can help save some of the rice paddies.
"It will not rain soon. So, if water discharged from China's dam comes here, even if there is no rain, the water will help ordinary people like us to save rice fields, and cut costs on water for domestic use and on animal feed, making our daily lives better," she told Xinhua News Agency.
However, some farmers in Ben Tre province said the drought is so severe that the discharge cannot completely solve the problems.
"I have heard the news that China has increased the amount of water discharged to the lower reaches. But it is too far away from here. Even if the water flows to here, it would be far from enough to stop the inland saline intrusion," said a young resident of Ap Thua Thanh village who requested anonymity.
Due to saline intrusion, the river and underground water in Ben Tre province's rural coastal areas can no longer be used for drinking or irrigation.
Many residents have had to buy fresh water from deep wells, according to Xinhua.
Zhang Boting, a senior researcher at the China Society for Hydropower Engineering, said it is unrealistic to rely on water discharged from the dam in China to eliminate the drought in the lower reaches of Vietnam.
"We need to keep in mind that the water volume of the Lancang River in China is less than 20 percent of the total water volume of the Mekong River," he said.
Zhang said other countries that have tributaries of the Mekong must step up efforts to store more water during flood season to help alleviate drought during the river's dry season.
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh told VNA that, since China's increased water release, Laos has followed its example and released water from its dams, further helping to increase the Mekong's water level.
