Authorities in Ca Mau Province, southern Vietnam on Saturday turned the first sod at a fresh water reservoir construction project estimated to cost more than US$8.2 million.

The project is implemented in the resettlement areas in U Minh District.

The reservoir is meant to minimize groundwater exploitation and forest wildfires in the dry season and land subsidence in drought-hit border areas, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

More than VND186 billion ($8.2 million) from the Reciprocal Capital and the World Bank is to be channeled into the project, which covers a total area of ​​102 hectares and is excavating more than 3.4 million cubic meters of rock and soil within a year.

The project includes various constructions like a water drainage system, a network of internal roads and canals, mobile water pumps, and water quality monitoring equipment.

Upon completion, the reservoir can hold up to 3.85 million cubic meters of fresh water at a depth of six meters.

“We hope the project will help soothe the headache caused by land subsidence and clean water shortage in the dry season,” said To Quoc Nam, deputy director of the Ca Mau Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“The reservoir will also provide water for daily life for about 113,780 residents in U Minh.

“In the future, it will be capable of leading fresh water from the Hau River to serve daily life and production in the nearby industrial zones.”

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