A freshwater reservoir in An Giang Province. — Photo www.sggp.org.vn

AN GIANG — The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of An Giang will build three new reservoirs to store freshwater to cope with a shortage of clean water and ensure local residents' quality of life.

A representative of An Giang Province’s Traffic and Agricultural Construction and Investment Project Management Board – the investor of the project building the three reservoirs – said that the new reservoirs are located in Tri Tôn and Tịnh Biên districts with a total capacity of about 1.2 million cubic metres (cu.m).

Of the new reservoirs, Núi Dài 2 and Tà Lọt will cover an area of 22 hectares with a capacity of more than 500,000 cu.m each, while the 10ha Cô Tô reservoir will have a capacity of 200.000cu.m.

The project is estimated to cost about VNĐ457 billion (US$19.4 million).

It also includes building dams, flood spillways, sluice water intakes, and operation management houses.

Its reservoirs are expected to be completed and put into operation in 2024.

Tịnh Biên and Tri Tôn are quite far from the administrative centre of An Giang Province, and home to a large number of Khmer people.

This area, with a total population of about 270,000 people often suffers from water shortage in the dry season.

Between 2018 and 2020, the province built several irrigation reservoirs, including Hồ Soài So, Soài Check, Ô Thum and Ô Tà Sóc, and three new electric pumping stations for irrigation with a total cost of more than VNĐ360 billion ($15.3 million). — VNS