Mekong Delta builds climate change adaptation irrigation system

Can Tho, November 18 (VNA) - Vietnam's Mekong Delta localities have planned to build irrigation works in a bid to better respond to climate change in the coming time, according to the Steering Committee for the Southwestern Region. Nguyen Phong Quang, deputy head of the committee, said from now to 2020, the localities will focus on developing and upgrading infrastructure facilities to protect vulnerable urban areas from flood, while reinforcing breakwater and embankment systems. They will also build drainage and irrigation works, and take non-structural measures to deal with climate change. Projects to control salt intrusion and store fresh water for aquaculture, and others to ensure the safety for farming areas shall be developed and upgraded. Immediately, anti-flood measures will be implemented in major cities in the region such as Can Tho, Ca Mau and Vinh Long, Quang said. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Mekong Delta has five water reservoirs and a great number of irrigation stations and canals capable of watering 3.1 million hectares (80 percent of the region’s farmland area). In addition, it also boasts nearly 26,000 anti-flood embankments and 460 km of breakwater.-VNA