Proactively manage dam safety

(Baonghean) - The whole province has over 600 large and small dams, most of which have been in use for over 30 or 40 years. Some dams have been degraded, posing many potential safety risks during the rainy and flood season. Therefore, the work of inspecting, repairing and decentralizing the management of dams is always urgent.

Officials from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development inspect Ruong Xoi Lake in Duc Son Commune (Anh Son) before the flood season. Photo: pv

To ensure the safety of dams before the flood season, for projects under construction, upgrading and repair, construction units are urgently speeding up the progress, completing items of works to prevent and control storms and floods, and overcome floods. Thach Tien reservoir located in Hung Yen Nam commune (Hung Nguyen) has a capacity of 3 million m3 of water, serving irrigation for 200 hectares of rice, ensuring water sources for people in Hung Yen Bac and Hung Yen Nam communes. Nearly 40 years of exploitation and use, along with the impact of continuous natural disasters, have caused the reservoir to deteriorate, the dam body has been eroded a lot, affecting water storage as well as the safety of people living below the dam body during the flood season. In 2011, the Provincial People's Committee approved the project to repair and upgrade to ensure the safety of the Thach Tien reservoir cluster, with a total investment of more than 22 billion VND. The project undertaken by Phu Quy Trading Company Limited includes items such as: Flood spillway at 18.7m elevation; The front dam body is widened by 3m, the dam body elevation is raised by 60cm compared to the old dam body. The foundation is dug down to 7m and treated for waterproofing. "Despite difficulties in capital, we have devoted all our resources to means and machinery to construct the dam to overcome the flood in 2014. Up to now, the project has been completed", said Mr. Nguyen Van Quang - Director of Phu Quy Trading Company Limited. However, not all reservoir and dam projects have enough investment capital, the lack of funds to upgrade and repair projects is always a difficult problem for managers, levels and sectors. Trot Luy Dam in Hien Son commune (Do Luong) has a capacity of 1 million m3, serving irrigation for 120 hectares of agricultural land. The upgrading project has been approved with a total investment of 9.7 billion VND, but is still in the construction phase and is expected to be completed by the end of 2014. Therefore, in order to prevent floods in time, the construction unit has focused on completing the water intake culvert body. The remaining items are currently being implemented.

In addition, the decentralization of dam management is also raising many issues that need to be considered. Ba Coi Lake in Long Son Commune, Anh Son District has a capacity of nearly 3 million m3, serving irrigation for over 200 hectares of crops. Because it is located in a mountainous area, this lake is built on high ground. For professionals, lakes like this are like giant bags of water hanging high above. This is a danger to dam safety every time the rainy and stormy season comes. Currently, Ba Coi Lake is being managed by Long Son Commune. With a lake with such a large capacity, the locality is also facing many difficulties and confusion in managing operations and ensuring safety, especially when the rainy and stormy season comes. Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Long Son Commune (Anh Son) said: "There are still people living below the lake area, so we cannot be subjective. The locality has developed rescue plans when necessary."

Not only Ba Coi Lake, but currently, in the whole province, there are many lakes and dams with a capacity of over 1 million m3 that are under the management of local authorities, most of which are managed by communes. From practice, it is shown that when large-capacity lakes are managed by localities, the operation process to fight drought or prevent floods and storms is unscientific, because the reservoir operators often only undergo short-term training courses and lack in-depth knowledge of the irrigation industry. Meanwhile, lakes and dams always have many potential dangers inside such as termite nests, leaks, etc. If they do not have expertise, they will not be able to handle them well. Moreover, currently, most of the lakes and dams in Nghe An have been in use for many years, so they have degraded and need to be repaired. Mr. Nguyen Cong The - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Anh Son district said: "In the face of the approaching storm and flood season, Anh Son district has directed the communes to base on the storm and flood prevention plans to urge and inspect the storm and flood prevention at reservoirs. How to promptly handle possible incidents. All dams in the district have been built since the 90s, and the operation process is normal. However, to ensure better requirements and operate according to State standards, it is necessary to gradually strengthen the team of reservoir and dam managers with higher quality".

Therefore, the decentralization of management of reservoirs with a capacity of over 1 million m3 needs to be recalculated to ensure efficiency and safety. Discussing this issue, Mr. Nguyen Van De - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: "Reservoirs and dams managed by localities have the advantage of being located in the area, however, the disadvantage is that the reservoir management staff is still weak and has not met the technical advances. Therefore, the province has decided that in the near future, reservoir projects with a capacity of over 1 million m3 and dams with a height of over 15m will be assigned to specialized units of Irrigation for management. This will be better for ensuring the safety of reservoirs and dams, because the companies have better professional management teams."

Vinh Thao(Provincial Radio)