The Trà Sư Sluice in An Giang Province’s Tịnh Biên District. The province plans to build a large freshwater storage system downstream of the sluice to serve agriculture in the Long Xuyên Quadrangle. – VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh

AN GIANG – The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of An Giang plans to soon build a freshwater storage system and infrastructure to serve agriculture in the Long Xuyên Quadrangle.

Speaking at a meeting with a working group from the Ministry of Planning and Investment to discuss the project last week, Trần Anh Thư, deputy chairman of the province People’s Committee, said, in an allusion to climate change, that the delta’s flooding season is no longer regular or consistent and so it is necessary to execute the project soon.

The storage system would supply irrigation water to the quadrangle, the country’s major food producing area, he said.

It would also help regulate and manage freshwater resources during the rainy and dry seasons, secure people’s livelihoods and protect the environment, he said.

The province has proposed to the ministry that the system should have a capacity of more than 32 million cubic metres, have an embankment of 42.6km and cover more than 3,050ha downstream of the Trà Sư Sluice.

It is expected to supply water to around 30,000ha of farmlands in An Giang and Kiên Giang provinces and Cần Thơ City, all in the quadrangle, a low-lying area in the upstream area of the delta.

With climate change, the delta is struggling with saltwater intrusion up its many rivers.

Phạm Hoàng Nam, head of the ministry’s foreign economic relations department, said the project was vital and would help develop the quadrangle and protect the environment.

The province should draft it in detail and submit it to the working group, he said.

It should maximise the storage system’s capacity and link it up regionally, he added. – VNS