There's a terrible drought going on in Vietnam's Mekong River Delta, and Hanoi is getting some mixed news about the lifeline of the southern region.  On one hand, China has agreed to release more water from a dam that feeds the river; on the other, Thailand has started pumping Mekong water into its own rivers, with plans to increase its take.

The ongoing serious drought is damaging some 160,000 hectares of Vietnam's paddy rice, causing mounting losses that are soon to exceed AU$300 Million.  Another 290,000 hectares of fruit trees are impacted.  Meanwhile, all 13 cities and provinces in the Mekong Delta region are suffering saline intrusion, and river navigation is all the more difficult.

China began discharging water from the Jinghong Dam on 15 March, and will continue through 10 April.  The Mekong, which is running at its lowest level since 1926, will start to see river levels rise in a couple of weeks and push back some of that salt water.   The Mekong River Commission predicts saline intrusion will reach 162 kilometers inland this year - practically to the Cambodian border.

The Commission also is urging the five downstream countries - Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam - to use the discharged water from China for addressing drought and not to transfer water to other regions or store water at reservoirs.

But Thailand has already started pumping 47 million cubic meters of water out of the Mekong River and into the Huai Luang River, in Thailand's Nong Khai province.  Somkiat Prajamwong from Thailand's Royal Irrigation Department insists, "These pumping stations are only temporary to help assist people during the drought crisis."

Thailand's National Water Resources Board earlier gave the green light to a much bigger pumping station that could divert 150 cubic meters every second from the Mekong River.