Ensuring dam safety

Operation of Yen My reservoir spillway.

Song Chu LLC is currently managing 3 reservoirs (Song Muc reservoir, Yen My reservoir, Dong Chua reservoir); 4 pumping stations (Xom Moi, Do Bon 1, Quan Boi 1, Quan Boi 2); 2 drainage culverts (Ngoc Giap, Quang Chau) and Ben Ngu port. From the beginning of the year, the company has proactively developed a plan to respond to reservoir emergencies and submitted it to competent authorities for approval and implementation. At the same time, it repairs, maintains, and tests the spillway gates, pumping stations, and drainage culverts of the reservoirs. At the same time, it organizes the review and replacement of damaged and substandard materials according to the "4 on-site" principle to promptly handle and rescue the project when an incident occurs. Mobilizes resources to implement dredging of sediment at the entrance to the upstream channel of the Song Muc reservoir's flood spillway to ensure project safety.

According to the company representative, to ensure the safety of the dam project during the rainy season, the company regularly monitors weather developments. When heavy rain is forecast, the company will mobilize staff to be on duty 24/7. At the same time, coordinate with the electricity agency to be ready to turn on the power, proactively drain water, discharge floods and take measures to handle incidents when they occur.

The province currently has 610 reservoirs, of which 1 is managed by the Irrigation Investment and Construction Management Board 3 ( Ministry of Agriculture and Environment ); 86 are managed by irrigation works exploitation companies and 523 are managed by communes and wards. To ensure the safety of dams and reservoirs during the rainy and stormy season, units have invested in installing construction monitoring equipment for 27 reservoirs; installed specialized hydrometeorological monitoring equipment for 102 reservoirs; performed maintenance, repair, upgrade and modernization of 386 reservoirs; installed operational monitoring systems, information equipment and safety warnings for dams and downstream areas of 4 reservoirs (including Cua Dat, Song Muc, Yen My, Dong Chua); set up boundary markers for dams and reservoirs for 35 reservoirs; established and implemented protection plans for 152 reservoirs; established and implemented disaster and emergency response plans for 610 reservoirs; building a database system for dams and reservoirs for 216 reservoirs... However, the whole province still has 57/610 reservoirs that are currently seriously damaged, with potential risks of insecurity. The Irrigation Department is actively coordinating with localities and management units to reinforce and repair damages, minimizing the occurrence of unsafe incidents for the works. At the same time, mobilizing human resources, gathering materials, machinery and equipment according to the "4 on-site" motto according to the approved emergency response plan to be ready to respond when incidents occur to reservoirs.

According to the Head of Thanh Hoa Irrigation Sub-Department Nguyen Van Chinh, in order not to affect the implementation and ensure the safety of dams and reservoirs during the rainy and flood season in 2025 when the district-level government ends its operations, the sub-department has instructed localities to transfer State management tasks to commune-level administrative units according to the 2-level local government organization model. In addition, it directs units managing and exploiting irrigation works to continue to strictly implement the provisions of law on the safety management of dams and reservoirs. Assess the safety of works, flood resistance, and flood discharge capacity of reservoirs with regulating gates to have solutions to ensure the safety of works and downstream areas during the rainy and flood season.

For 57 reservoirs assessed as unsafe during the 2025 rainy and flood season, management units will update emergency response plans and natural disaster response plans that are close to the actual situation. In case of detecting serious damage, high risk of unsafety, if not handled, it will immediately affect the safety of people's lives and property, units will mobilize all resources to repair, reinforce, and overcome to ensure the safety of the works. If it is beyond the unit's capacity, synthesize the list of works, priority order of investment, repair and funding needed, promptly report to the Department of Agriculture and Environment for synthesis, report to the Provincial People's Committee for consideration and handling.

Article and photos: Hai Dang

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/bao-dam-an-toan-ho-dap-255625.htm