Climate Adaptation
Vietnam’s Mekong Delta Declares Emergency on Devastating Drought
- Severe drought and salinity to hammer rice, fruit production
- Water flows from Mekong River seen 20% lower than in 2016
A farmer wearing a protective facemask works in a rice field in Vietnam.
Photographer: Nhac Nguyen/AFP via Getty Images
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Vietnam’s prolonged drought, coupled with an extensive buildup of salinity, have driven five provinces in the country’s rice bowl to declare a state of emergency.
“This year’s drought and salinity have been way more devastating than what we saw four years ago,” said Nguyen Thien Phap, head of the water resources department in Tien Giang, one of the provinces that announced the emergency in the Mekong Delta.