The Central Highlands is entering the peak of the dry season, and while many coffee plantations are already short of irrigation water, wasteful overwatering is still widespread.
Since mid-March, major coffee-growing areas in Đắk Lắk have been facing water shortages as reservoirs run dry. Months without rain have lowered water levels in the headwater lakes of Cư Pơng commune, Krông Búk District. According to Võ Văn Quát, Vice Chairman of the Cư Pơng Commune People’s Committee, of the commune’s eight reservoirs, three—Ea Liêng, Ea Brơ, and Ea Đung Tiêng—have already dried up, and the rest are nearly empty. Meanwhile, the commune’s 3,600 ha of coffee have just finished the second irrigation round and are about to start the third, making the risk of water shortage obvious.
Many irrigation works in Đắk Nông Province are in a similar situation. The Đắk Gun reservoir in Đắk N’drót commune, Đắk Mil District—normally known for its abundant supply—is now almost dry; farmers are racing to pump water, which causes the level to fall even faster. Water reserves in other local reservoirs have also dropped sharply, leaving nearly 300 ha of coffee without irrigation. The provincial agriculture department warns that other districts such as Gia Nghĩa, Đắk Glong, Đắk Song, and Cư Jút could also run short of water for more than 700 ha of coffee.
Despite the obvious shortage, many farmers continue the habit of over-irrigating beyond the coffee plant’s needs. Dr. Lê Ngọc Báu, Director of the Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute (WASI), observed: “Currently farmers apply 800–1,000 liters of water per coffee tree per irrigation, while the plant actually requires only about 500–600 liters. This not only wastes water but also depletes soil fertility, as excess water leaches nutrients into deeper soil layers.”
Calculations show that this excess of 300–400 liters per tree means that each dry season coffee farmers in Đắk Lắk over-irrigate by more than half a billion cubic meters of water—mostly from underground sources.
Nguyễn Văn Sinh, Deputy Director of the Đắk Lắk Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, added that using such large amounts of water for each irrigation also raises costs for pumping fuel and for digging or drilling wells, thereby increasing coffee production costs. The agriculture sector has repeatedly warned against over-irrigation and has even piloted demonstrations of water-saving techniques, but these efforts have yet to persuade farmers to change their traditional cultivation practices.