Laos is releasing water from its dams to the Mekong River to help Vietnam cope with drought and salt intrusion in the Mekong Delta, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on March 25.

The water is expected to arrive in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam in the first week of April 2016

The ministry quoted Lao Minister of Energy and Mines Khammany Inthirath as saying on March 23 that Laos will discharge around 1,136 cubmic meters of water per second to the lower Mekong River basin from March 23 to the end of May this year.

Together with the volume of water being released from dams in China and several rivers of Thailand, the total amount of extra water from the upper Mekong River flowing down to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam will be about 3,611 cubic meters per second.

The water is expected to arrive in the Mekong Delta in the first week of April 2016, according to the Vietnamese foreign ministry.

Source: VNA