Limiting the impact on agricultural production when upgrading dams

(Baonghean) - Many localities are upgrading the capacity of their dams. During this process, the projects must drain water for repairs and upgrades. This is a necessary requirement of the contractor, but this issue requires reasonable adjustments to ensure production and life for people in affected areas.

In mid-May, we were present at the Ba Tuy dam upgrade project in Quynh Tan commune, Quynh Luu district. This dam has a capacity of more than 5.6 million cubic meters, providing stable water supply for 127.1 hectares of rice fields of farmers in Quynh Tan commune and neighboring areas. However, the dam has dried up completely because the contractor upgrading the dam drained the water. This has forced farmers in the area to temporarily abandon their fields because there is no water for production.

Ba Tuy dam is dry.

The project to repair and upgrade Ba Tuy dam (Quynh Tan commune) is being constructed by Minh Quang Company Limited, with a total investment of more than 30 billion VND, and the Bac Irrigation One Member Company Limited is the investor. Currently, the contractor has completed 60% of the construction of the main dam, spillway, and auxiliary dam. According to the approved construction plan, the water will be drained at the end of 2014 and the dam will be constructed in 2015, so the dam will not store water. Mr. Le Van Cuong, representative of the investor, said: "The areas of land, trees, and crops affected by the project construction will be compensated, while the remaining agricultural land of the people affected by the Ba Tuy dam not storing water will be supported by the investor and local authorities in production support plans". Learning more about the support plan, we learned that this support is taken from the irrigation fee, in which Tan Tien Cooperative, Quynh Tan Commune enjoys the part of proactive pumping to supply water for irrigation, which is 60% of the cost, and Quynh Luu Irrigation Enterprise enjoys the part of providing water to create a source, which is 40%.

However, with the above support plan, in the spring crop of 2015, Quynh Luu Irrigation Enterprise only created water from the Ba Tuy dam reservoir and Vuc Mau canal to irrigate 55 hectares of rice and 86 hectares of crops, and Tan Tien Cooperative, Quynh Tan commune used mobile pumps and dug canals to continue irrigating those areas until harvest. The remaining areas could not be irrigated.

The failure of Ba Tuy dam to store water and the above production support plan has greatly affected the agricultural production of the people. Chairman of Quynh Tan Commune People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Van Mau added: "There are 10 hamlets with 700 - 800 households affected by the construction of Ba Tuy dam. In the spring crop, due to the dam releasing water, the rice yield is about 4 tons/ha due to lack of irrigation water. In the summer-autumn crop, there is no more water, the commune is directing pumping other sources to make the summer-autumn crop late, but it is certainly not guaranteed. We hope that the sectors and construction parties need to speed up the progress so that the dam can store water in time for the rainy season to create conditions for the production of the summer-autumn crop. In the lack of water for rice production, the district and commune have encouraged farmers to switch crops, but the efficiency is not high". One of the "hot" issues at the moment in Quynh Luu is drought. Rainfall is low, reaching 131mm, while evaporation is 154mm, so the water level of reservoirs is only 40% of the reserve capacity. Currently, the district has 95 dams managed by the locality. In the summer-autumn crop of 2015, the district produced over 2,707 hectares. Therefore, the rice production areas of the district will have to face a prolonged drought.

The lesson of water shortage for production due to the dam upgrading process happened a few years ago in the Vinh Dam area, Giai Xuan commune (Tan Ky); Roc U dam (Nghia Dan); Ky Ruou dam, Tang Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). In the affected areas, farmers had to "abandon" their fields for a period of time. Currently, Khe La dam in Nghia Dung (Tan Ky) is also behind schedule, affecting farmers' production. Recently, when inspecting the Nam Dan sluice project, the provincial inspection team also found that the capacity of some contractors did not meet the job requirements, some construction items were slow, affecting the supply of water for production and daily life in Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc districts, and Vinh city.

Construction of upgrading lakes and dams, most of them have to drain water, dredge, upgrade dam bodies, spillways... but if delayed for 1 year, it means farmers have lost 2 rice crops, 4 rice crops in 2 years. Lack of irrigation water means farmers have to abandon their fields, which means farmers may go hungry. "Strange potatoes in strange fields, familiar rice seedlings in familiar fields", so if rice fields are abandoned for 1-2 crops, they will become barren, wild, and have a lot of grass. When farmers return to production, they will encounter many difficulties and the cost of renovating the fields will increase. Construction of dams and irrigation works is not just a project but is related to people's lives and the safety of dams during the rainy season. Draining water to repair and upgrade dams is necessary for contractors to carry out construction, but the issue of ensuring the lives of people in irrigated areas needs to be regularly paid attention to by the locality and have solutions to resolve. Production support plans for people also need to be calculated appropriately and fields should not be left fallow.

While some localities lack solutions to ensure water sources for production due to dam upgrades, Yen Thanh district has effective ways to do so. Currently, the district has 4 reservoirs under construction. According to the experience of some communes, the important thing is to grasp the contractor's capacity and regulate construction appropriately to avoid abandoning crops. Mr. Le Van Thuy, Vice Chairman of Bac Thanh Commune People's Committee, said: "Trai Xanh reservoir was upgraded at a cost of over 9 billion VND. However, to ensure irrigation water for 60 hectares of summer-autumn rice, the Commune People's Committee has proposed plans requiring the construction unit to build the auxiliary items first, the dam body to be constructed later, and during the rice panicle-blossoming stage, if the dam body is upgraded, there must be a plan to retain water in the auxiliary dam using a water pump from the reservoir to ensure water for rice irrigation." In Trung Thanh commune, Ho Ha reservoir and Bau Trang reservoir are currently under construction. Currently, Ho Ha reservoir upstream is retaining water for Bau Trang reservoir downstream. Mr. Dinh Huu Tan, Vice Chairman of Trung Thanh Commune People's Committee, said: "The two reservoirs above irrigate about 40 hectares of rice. According to the survey, the amount of water is only enough for the first crop of the summer-autumn crop. Therefore, the Commune People's Committee has requested the construction unit to build items such as roads, water intake culverts, and the dam body will be constructed after the summer-autumn rice harvest." During the construction of the reservoir, Yen Thanh district always prioritizes irrigation water for the summer-autumn crop. The district focuses on directing the construction units and developing construction plans to both ensure progress and create conditions for water supply for people to plant rice.

Obviously, to avoid damage to agricultural production when upgrading dams is an urgent requirement. The key issue is that relevant levels, sectors, and investors must strengthen inspection and supervision, requiring contractors to speed up construction progress while ensuring reasonable water regulation for the production season. If there is a lack of responsibility in some stages, it can lead to significant consequences for agricultural production.

Article and photos:Hoang Vinh