Vietnam's southern delta faces worst drought in history
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Officials say Vietnam's southern Mekong Delta, the country's main rice growing region, is experiencing the worst drought and saline intrusion in recent history.
State media quoted a government report as saying some 575,000 people were short of fresh water. According to the Foreign Ministry, neighboring China has doubled the amount of water discharged from a dam to help alleviate the crisis.
Officials blame the drought on the El Nino weather phenomenon and excessive construction of hydropower dams on the upper stream of the river.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ma Quang Trung, a department director at the Agriculture Ministry, said Thursday that the level of inland saline intrusion was unprecedented, resulting in damage to some 180,000 hectares (444,780 acres) of paddy fields.