It’s sad to see farmers in Ninh Thuan trying to drill wells and find water to save their crops

Ninh Thuan farmers are “thirsty” during the fierce drought

Due to the influence of the El Nino phenomenon, from the beginning of 2024 until now, Ninh Thuan has had almost no rain. The dry heat day after day causes water reservoirs to “evaporate”. Some reservoirs have depleted water such as Ong Kinh lake, CK7 lake and some lakes are at risk of drying up such as Phuoc Nhon lake, Suoi Lon, Bau Ngu, Ta Ranh, Bau Zon…

According to forecasts, if the drought persists, many lakes will no longer have water for irrigation, many agricultural areas in the province will have to stop production, and the risk of hunger will occur in many localities in the province.

“There hasn’t been any rain since October, the lakes have dried up, so people here are drilling to find water for irrigation. If it’s dry like this, I’ll probably stop working after this season.” , a farmer said sadly. Sheep, cows and other animals also died due to lack of drinking water.

“The sheep roamed freely but there was nothing to eat. It was so hungry that it died.”

The scorching sun in the driest place in the country makes people miserable

Spend tens of millions drilling wells to save crops

To have water to irrigate crops during the drought season, farmers in this area have to drill wells in the lake bed and transfer water through many stages, so costs will increase quite a lot. Some households drill from 30-50m, some households have to drill 100-150m into the lake bed to catch underground water, then pump up the remaining puddles to bring water to the pond to irrigate crops.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Dang (Ninh Hai, Ninh Thuan) showed us the 2,000 meter long borehole line, requiring up to 34 pipes. “The cost of drilling 1 meter of land is 300 thousand, 200 meters is tens of millions, not including other costs. Electricity bill per month is 7 million,” Mr. Dang listed the costs.

Households living around Ong Kinh lake like Mr. Dang are using pumps to suck water from the lake for irrigation and agricultural production.

To cope with the drought, Ninh Thuan has built an 11km water pipeline to bring water from the upstream, but due to the drought and lack of upstream water, it is still not possible to pump water to the Ong Kinh lake area.

In the middle of the blazing sun, many people still exposed themselves to the middle of Ong Kinh Lake to check the pump, trying to find a water source to save their crops and trees.

“Exposing” yourself in the sun to find water sources to save livestock and crops

Forecast of the South Central Hydro-Meteorological Station, due to the El Nino phenomenon, the weather will have unusual, unusual and difficult-to-predict developments in May and June and is likely to continue until early 2025. .There is a possibility of local salinity intrusion deep into the river from 0.5 to 1.5km; Phan Rang Cai River alone is from 4 to 6km.

Ninh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee also said that when the drought situation continues to last, in addition to the affected agricultural production sector, there will also be a shortage of electricity and fresh water to serve production and business sectors. and other services such as: Tourism business services; Industrial and handicraft production,…

Some other images during the fierce drought in Ninh Thuan: