Concerns about degraded dams during flood season

Photo caption — Many water leaks appeared at the body of Phuong Hoang Lake Dam (Dong Son commune).

Nam Binh Ha Lake in Binh Son Commune was built in 1979 with an earth dam structure. The lake has a capacity of 30,000 m3, serving irrigation for more than 70 hectares of rice and crops. However, due to its location in a steep mountainous area, the strong natural sedimentation process has significantly reduced the lake's capacity. The dam body has many points of water seepage, cracks, breaks, and erosion; the sluice gate is damaged and cannot be operated.

Mr. Pham Trung Cuong in Nam Binh 1 village, Binh Son commune, expressed his disappointment: “This lake is used to regulate irrigation water for Nam Binh village’s fields, but now it is silted up, not enough water for people to grow rice. During flood season, the water level drops a lot, and cannot store water. People’s livelihoods are affected in both dry and flood seasons.”

Binh Son commune has 8 dams, currently 2 of which have been silted up, the dam body has been damaged, making it difficult to store irrigation water in the dry season and dangerous in the rainy season. Mr. Vo Quoc Nam, Head of the Economic Department of Binh Son commune, said: To implement dam safety work, the People's Committee of Binh Son commune has recently established a team to inspect all dams. The commune has also developed a specific plan for the downstream areas. When an unusual situation occurs, the commune will evacuate people to the safest places.

Similarly, after 24 years of operation, under the impact of natural disasters, storms and floods, Phuong Hoang reservoir (Dong Son commune) has also been seriously damaged. Signs of damage are clear: many areas of the downstream dam are leaking water; the spillway and downstream channel are eroded and broken; the stone embankment is peeling and losing connection, posing a very high risk of dam failure.

The damage to Phoenix Lake has made the households living downstream worried. Mr. Vo Van Dan, Nhon Hoa 2 village, Dong Son commune, could not hide his worry: "This lake has broken dam once, in 2001 it was rebuilt by the authorities. But in recent years, when the dam body was discovered to be damaged, people were very worried. We hope that the authorities at all levels will soon have a solution to repair it to ensure the safety of the people."

Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, Vice Chairman of Dong Son Commune People's Committee, said: The commune has many lakes and dams, most of which were built more than 30 years ago and have degraded. Among them, Phuong Hoang Lake is the most seriously damaged. However, the repair requires a large amount of funding, so the Commune People's Committee has requested the superior authorities to allocate funding for the repair.

“To ensure safety during this year’s flood season, the Commune People’s Committee has directed the shock force to coordinate with village chiefs to make a list of households in the downstream area that are directly affected. When heavy rains continue, we will evacuate households to safe places to prevent unfortunate incidents from happening,” Mr. Tuan emphasized.

In addition to the above-mentioned projects, there are many reservoirs that are at risk of incidents and unsafety during the 2025 flood season if not repaired promptly, such as: Suoi Khoai and Trung Tin Lakes (Van Tuong Commune); Hoc Tung and Hoc Lung Lakes (Tho Phong Commune)... These reservoirs all have potential incidents in key items such as earthen dams with seepage and roof erosion; sluice gates are not watertight; some reservoirs do not have regulating valves; the spillway is an eroded and narrowed earthen spillway...

Faced with the existing risks from degraded dams, authorities have been urgently implementing measures to ensure maximum safety for people during the rainy season. Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Quang Ngai Ho Trong Phuong said that although in recent years with the attention of the Government and central ministries and branches, Quang Ngai province has built, upgraded and repaired many dams, ensuring the safety of the works. However, there are still 12 degraded and damaged dams that need to be repaired and upgraded. Therefore, before the rainy season, the Department has directed specialized agencies to inspect and assess the level of damage of each work to have appropriate repair and water regulation measures; urgently deploy response plans and reinforce the works.

“The Department of Agriculture and Environment has also advised the Provincial People’s Committee to propose the Central Government to support funding for upgrading and repairing damaged and degraded dams to ensure safety, especially for vulnerable and unsafe reservoirs. The total funding requirement for these items is about 165 billion VND,” Mr. Phuong emphasized./.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/noi-lo-tu-nhung-ho-dap-xuong-cap-mua-mua-lu-20251010113928264.htm