Announcing the results, Mr. Nguyen Minh Khuyen, deputy head of the ministry’s Department of Water Resources Management, said that Can Tho city and Soc Trang, Bac Lieu province led the Mekong Delta in depression with 52.4-62.6cm for the past decade. Tra Vinh, Ben Tre and Long An provinces saw it lowest with 12.4-15.9cm.
The observation was conducted in 339 spots having roads and urban areas in the delta and the city.
The Institute of Water Resources Planning said that Ca Mau Peninsular has seen the fastest depression in the delta because hydropower dams in the upper reaches of the Mekong River have resulted in silt and sediment reduction. The flow of silt and sediment to the Mekong Delta reduces about 70-80 percent now, it is forecast to reach 95 percent by 2040. Riverbank and coastal erosion will be in worse trend.
At present, the Mekong Delta has 9,650 large boreholes supplying 1.97 million cubic meters a day. HCMC alone has 1,920 large boreholes providing 520,000 cubic meters a day and over one million small household scale wells with the exploitation volume of 840,000 cubic meters a day.
