In Tay An Vinh Village, Nguyen Van Quang made an urgent phone call to a water salesman to bring water to his house.

"I've called him three times this morning," Quang said. "Maybe he is too busy these days. We've had to buy bottled water for cooking and drinking while using seawater for washing."

The farmer said his onion and garlic farm also died from water shortage.

"We've been drilling wells, but many have dried out due to prolonged drought," he said.

Chairwoman of Ly Son District People's Committee, Pham Thi Huong, said that the water shortage had seriously affected people's lives and production.

More than 22,000 residents and over 300 hectares of plants are facing water shortages, Huong said, adding that the water sources during the dry season here can only meet 50 percent of people's daily needs.

The official hoped the local authorities would take rapid measures to help deal with the problem.

According to Vo Quoc Hung, deputy director of the Quang Ngai Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the island typically receives about nine million cubic metres of rainwater annually.

"I think the best solution now is to build irrigation and tanks around the island to collect rainwater for daily use, seafood production, and crop watering," Hung said. "While waiting for these projects, we need to encourage local people to build their tanks to collect rainwater and grow more trees to help maintain underground water sources."