The drying up of rivers and lakes is becoming a nightmare for coffee farmers in Gia Lai. Photo: Tuan Anh.

A prolonged drought is gripping the western region of Gia Lai province , causing many rivers, streams, and lakes to dry up. Water for agricultural production is becoming increasingly scarce, pushing thousands of hectares of crops, especially coffee plantations, into a state of severe water shortage.

In the fields, coffee farmers are racing against time, utilizing every scarce water source to save their crops. Many households have even had to hire excavators to dig deep holes in search of groundwater. According to many residents, if the drought continues, large areas of crops are at risk of dying, significantly impacting the livelihoods of local people.

In Ia Hrung commune, many coffee plantations are experiencing dry, barren soil and wilting leaves due to prolonged water shortages. Despite farmers' efforts to continuously pump water for irrigation, water resources are increasingly depleted, making drought relief efforts increasingly difficult.In his family's 4-acre coffee plantation, Kpuih Kret (Breng 3 village) is still diligently adjusting each irrigation pipe in the hope of saving his trees. The trickling water seeping into the cracked soil seems insufficient to alleviate the pervasive drought.

“The intense heat has caused many coffee branches to dry out, while my family has to work hard watering them day and night. However, in the coming time, the water supply may not be sufficient to meet the needs, and the risk of our family's plantation withering is unavoidable,” Kret shared.

Following the drought , Ia Lam Lake (De Chi village, Gao commune), once the source of water for the entire coffee-growing region, is now just a barren, cracked lakebed under the scorching sun. Dozens of pumps that once operated day and night now lie idle, and the pipelines extending into the lake rely solely on the meager and weak groundwater currents.

About 30 meters from the lake, Mr. Puih Nghi (from De Chi village) is hiring an excavator to dig deeper into the lakebed in the hope of finding a water source for irrigation. However, the groundwater level is too low, and his family's 8-acre coffee plantation next to it is withering day by day.

“Right now, people have almost no other choice but to rely on the meager groundwater resources, watering their plants once every two days, each time only lasting for about an hour. If the drought continues for another month or so, the coffee plantations here will hardly be able to survive, and the risk of dying from drought is unavoidable,” Mr. Nghi shared.

Similarly, Mr. Rơ Châm Bin's family, with 2.5 acres of coffee plantations around the lake, is also facing a prolonged water shortage. In the scorching midday sun, he hangs his hammock on his cashew plantation, silently watching the receding lakebed, waiting for any groundwater to seep out. Whenever he sees water, he quickly starts the pump to collect every drop to save his trees. However, the groundwater only lasts for about an hour before drying up again, insufficient to save his withering trees.

According to observations in the reservoir area, some people are busy searching for water sources, while others are willing to spend tens of millions of dong to rent excavators to dig deep into the ground in the hope of reaching groundwater. In the arid landscape, the sound of excavators echoes incessantly, each bucket of soil being scooped up amidst the impatience and anxiety of many households.

Sharing information about the drought situation, Mr. Tran Tan Quang, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Gao commune, said that the prolonged heatwave has caused many areas in the locality to experience water shortages, and some crop areas have been significantly affected. Given this reality, the local authorities can only advise people to conserve available water as much as possible to maintain production and try to weather this difficult period.

"In the long term, the locality will propose to the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee to provide funding to dredge the dilapidated reservoirs and dams, and at the same time, study the construction and improvement of the canal system to ensure a more stable water supply for irrigation for the people," Mr. Quang shared.