Checking the regulation and flood discharge of hydropower plants: Too many shortcomings!

Point out the shortcomings

Implementing the direction of the Provincial Party Standing Committee in Official Dispatch No. 1261-TB/TU dated September 11, 2018, on September 28, 2018, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 4347/QD-UBND to establish an interdisciplinary inspection team to comprehensively assess the impact of hydropower on flood regulation and prevention in the province.

On October 29, 2018, the interdisciplinary inspection team issued Document No. 395/BC.DKTLN reporting on the comprehensive assessment of the impact of hydropower projects on flood regulation and prevention in the province. In Document No. 395, the interdisciplinary inspection team provided information on hydropower projects; weather, storms, and floods up to August 31, 2018; flood discharge operations from storms No. 3 and No. 4 and floods from August 28 to 31, 2018; and the impact of flood discharge from hydropower plants.

The flood on August 31st destroyed the concrete bridge leading to Ban Ve. Photo: Nhat Lan

In particular, the impact of flood discharge from the three hydropower plants Ban Ve, Khe Bo, Chi Khe (operated under Decision No. 2125/QD-TTg dated December 1, 2018 of the Prime Minister) is assessed as follows: "In the face of the situation of extremely large and unusual natural disasters, the flood in Laos is so large that it cannot be controlled, Ban Ve Hydropower Plant has only 1 My Ly hydrological station (Ky Son), the plant wing is about 60 km upstream, so it cannot accurately control the flood in Laos.

Within more than 1 week, there were 2 big floods, double floods (floods on top of floods) appeared, the direction of the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control and the implementation of the operations of the Ban Ve, Khe Bo, Chi Khe hydropower plants were operated in accordance with the regulations and procedures of the Prime Minister, however, it still caused some damage to the downstream areas of the plants, and changed the flow, the water level in the downstream suddenly rose, contributing to increasing the erosion of river banks and streams in the downstream areas of the plants; causing flooding, damage, landslides of houses, roads and infrastructure works in Tuong Duong, Con Cuong and Ky Son districts.

The flood also caused serious subsidence of transport infrastructure, residential land, garden land, and production land in Ban Ve. Photo: Nhat Lan

For hydropower plants operating single reservoirs according to the procedures of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Provincial People's Committee: These reservoirs do not have flood prevention capacity; the reservoirs operate according to the correct procedures and regulations, however, the downstream areas of some plants are also partly affected by the large floods, the river is narrowed, causing erosion of the riverbanks downstream of the plants and causing flooding, landslides of houses, roads, etc.

One of the residential areas in Ve village, Yen Na commune was devastated by the flood on August 31. Photo: Nhat Lan

Document No. 395 clearly stated that the total damage caused by storms No. 3 and No. 4 and the flood from August 28 to 31 amounted to over VND1,857 billion. Of which, the damage caused by storm No. 3 was VND831.7 billion; the damage caused by storm No. 4 was VND786.55 billion; and the damage caused by floods from August 28 to 31 was VND139.439 billion.

The problems, causes and difficulties in the flood regulation operation of hydropower plants are clearly pointed out, namely:

Due to unusual weather phenomenaTherefore, in a short period of time, three major floods occurred in the upper reaches of the Ca River. The forecast of the flow to the Ban Ve hydroelectric reservoir is still inaccurate, because 80% of the basin area of ​​the Ban Ve hydroelectric reservoir is located in Laos, which cannot be controlled or monitored; the North Central Hydrometeorological Station does not have data to forecast floods.

The implementation of construction of many hydropower projectsThe Ca River basin has greatly affected the river flow, increasing the damage caused by floods. Most of the year, the Ca River's water flow is too low, so the flow cannot be cleared, leading to slower water receding during the flood season and prolonged flooding. The large difference in water flow between the dry season and the flood season has led to serious erosion on both sides of the Ca River during the recent flood; hydroelectric reservoirs are one of the main causes of this difference.

Water levels in upstream hydroelectric reservoirs rise higher and fasterincreasing floods and increasing damage. Some dams have a maximum flood discharge capacity smaller than the flood flow (Khe Bo, Ban Ang, Chi Khe, Nam Mo), causing the upstream water of hydroelectric reservoirs to rise too quickly, exceeding the compensation level for land clearance, causing a lot of damage to people living in this area. In addition, the hydroelectric dams themselves narrow the flow, creating a large difference in elevation between the upstream and downstream of the dam, leading to a flood discharge that creates a water flow rate that is too high, causing more landslides in the downstream area, increasing damage to people (especially in areas near the dam body) during floods.

Flood discharge of hydropower plants changes rapidly, with large differencesincreasing damage, greatly affecting people's lives. The monitoring and forecasting of upstream water of hydropower forecasts is still limited, leading to inactive flood discharge, the discharge flow continuously changes greatly in a short time, causing floods in downstream areas to continuously change greatly, making it difficult for flood prevention and control work, increasing damage caused by floods.

Flood escape corridors are not yet safewhen lowering the water level of Ban Ve hydropower reservoir to pre-flood level. Due to economic development, housing construction, agricultural production, road construction... encroaching on the riverbed, narrowing the flood drainage area; there is no flood map of downstream areas of hydropower plants according to regulations.

Since the issuance of the inter-reservoir operation process on the Ca River basin, flood discharge has only been put into operation, revealing difficulties in operation.. Monitoring, forecasting and provision of information and data by reservoir management and operation units are still lacking, the quality of forecast data is not good...

Hydropower must be responsible for compensation and support.

Flooding in Con Cuong on August 31. Photo: Nhat Lan

From pointing out the causes, problems and difficulties in the flood control operation of hydropower plants, the interdisciplinary inspection team has proposed many solutions that need to be implemented soon. These are: Urgently overcome the consequences of the flood; support affected families; arrange temporary accommodation for households that have lost their homes or had to relocate; organize emergency relief of food, necessities, medicine, and household items for families whose houses have been washed away, collapsed, or had to be urgently relocated... people must not be left hungry or homeless.

Deploy assessment and statistics of damage to proactively support and overcome consequences. Direct the operation and closely monitor the flood discharge of hydroelectric reservoirs to ensure the benefits of power generation, dam safety, and the lives, property, and infrastructure of the people and the State. Review and assess flooded residential areas downstream of hydroelectric reservoirs to develop infrastructure construction plans, arrange residents to leave dangerous areas; repair damaged infrastructure works to soon stabilize people's lives. Strengthen propaganda and warning work during the flood discharge operation of hydroelectric reservoirs so that authorities at all levels and people know to proactively respond.

Ban Ve Hydropower Plant releases floodwaters on August 31. Photo: Nhat Lan

The Nam Mo, Ban Ang, Nam Non, Khe Bo, and Chi Khe hydropower plants periodically dredge their reservoirs every two years. If they do not dredge, the normal water level must be lowered to ensure safety for the project, the reservoir, and downstream areas during flood discharge operations.

Ban Ve Hydropower Plant releases floodwaters on August 31. Photo: Nhat Lan

The interdisciplinary inspection team requested hydropower companies to coordinate with local authorities to inspect the damage in the downstream area and reservoir area and have plans to support and compensate localities in a timely manner. Specifically, compensation for relocation for households that have not been compensated within the water source protection corridor and compensation for households that have been flooded above the water source protection corridor. Support for damage in the downstream area of ​​the hydropower plant that has been flooded. Strictly implement the flood prevention and control plan for the downstream area approved by the Provincial People's Committee; reservoirs that have been put into operation must preside over and be responsible for coordinating with local authorities to develop flood prevention and control plans for the downstream area according to the scenarios and have flood maps for each scenario; set up markers according to the scenarios and have plans to relocate affected houses...

In Document No. 395, the interdisciplinary inspection team also made many recommendations and proposals to the Government, central ministries, branches and the Provincial People's Committee. Notably, it was requested that the Provincial People's Committee remove from the planning and revoke investment licenses for hydropower projects that are unfeasible, inefficient, behind schedule or not yet implemented, affecting the ecological environment and people's lives (My Ly, Nam Mo 1, Xop Coc, etc.); not to plan additional hydropower projects under survey (Cam Son, Ban Pung, Ban Ba, etc.); request to hire a scientific institute to advise on a comprehensive and overall assessment of the impacts of hydropower in the province in a scientific and objective manner. Request the Government and central ministries and branches to support the installation of a weather monitoring radar in Ky Son to serve weather forecasting in the Ca River system; build a hydrological station in the upper reaches of the Ca River; Amend the inter-reservoir operation process according to Decision No. 2125/QD-TTg to suit the current situation; propose not to build more hydropower plants on the main stream of the Ca River; have a mechanism to allocate 1% of profits or taxes of hydropower plants to create a fund to support people's livelihood and infrastructure when damaged by flood discharge...