Prolonged heat, Nghe An rivers dry up, lakes dry up

River water level is low

At the end of May 2023, in the scorching heat of nearly 40 degrees Celsius, Mr. Hoang Van Bac and his wife stood hesitantly in front of their family's yard, where about 30 bags of newly harvested spring rice had been dried and packaged, ready to be stored in a corner of the house. Mr. Bac pointed to the finished product after a season of plowing and planting, saying, "My husband and I planted more than 9 sao of rice this spring, but only harvested more than 600 kg. Considering the cost of renting a plow, harvester, water pump, fertilizer, pesticides, etc., this crop is considered a failure."

Nghe An has a big success in the spring crop, however, some places still face drought and low productivity. Photo: QA

Asked about the reason, Mr. Bac's wife, Ms. Vi Thi Xuyen, said that more than 4,500 square meters of rice fields of his family in the Con Huou area of ​​Dai Dong commune this year suffered from severe drought, with almost no water for the entire rice crop. In addition, there was almost no rain, so the rice was stunted and stunted, resulting in a poor harvest.

Ms. Xuyen added that her house is right next to Cho Rang Pumping Station, the canal leading water from the river to the fields runs right in front of her house, but for the past six months it has been clear.drought, cracked. Because the pumping station has not been in operation for that long. The reason is that the water level of Lam River has continuously dropped, the pump cannot operate.

“Not only did we lose the spring rice crop, but my family may not be able to grow the next summer-autumn crop because it is past the crop schedule and not a drop of water has been pumped into the fields. Agricultural officials have notified people to receive rice seeds for the summer-autumn crop, but we have not received them yet,” said Mr. Bac.

The water level of Lam River at Cho Rang Pumping Station, Dai Dong Commune, Thanh Chuong District has dropped below the pumping level. Photo: Hoai Thu

According to the Dai Dong Commune People's Committee, the Con Huou area is where the rice fields of Truong Son, Thanh Son, and Nghia Trung hamlets are concentrated. The spring rice crop in this area suffered from severe drought, causing almost no harvest. Although the Commune People's Committee has tried to mobilize pumps to pump water from the irrigation canal to this area, the situation has not improved due to the low water volume. Many households have also hired pumps to pump water from the river, but due to the long distance and the continuously low water volume, it has not been effective.

Mr. Le Ngoc Hieu - Head of Rang Market Pumping Station said that because the river water level is low, more than half a meter from the water intake of the pumping station, the pipeline must be extended. "However, the feasibility is not high. Because the water intake pipes of the pumping station have been connected twice, the length of the water intake pipe has exceeded the technical limit by more than 1 meter. However, we still try because people urgently need water to irrigate the summer-autumn crop."

Staff at Cho Rang Pumping Station try to connect the water suction pipe. Photo: Hoai Thu

On May 30, after an attempt to connect the water pipe, an officer at Cho Rang Pumping Station said, “the plan failed because the pipe was too long and overloaded with the water suction capacity of the machine.” This also meant that the summer-autumn crop planting schedule in Dai Dong was delayed by a week due to lack of water.

In Hung Nguyen district, the water level in Dao River, Hoang Can River, Nha Le Canal… are all drying up due to lack of rain for a long time. Farmers are “sitting on hot coals” because they are afraid of not having enough water to prepare the land and sow crops on schedule.

Dao River branch in Hung Nguyen district is dry. Photo: QA

Ms. Nguyen Thi Yen - Agricultural Officer of Hung Yen Nam Commune, Hung Nguyen District said: The whole commune has more than 300 hectares of rice, of which 200 hectares depend on water from Nha Le Canal passing through the area. However, in recent days, the water level in the canal has dropped so low that pumping water to serve people in land preparation cannot be carried out simultaneously, so the delay in planting progress is entirely possible if there is no rain...

Dry lake and dam

Recently, Nghe An province has suffered from a prolonged heat wave with temperatures ranging from 40 - 42 degrees Celsius, causing the water level in many dams to decrease. According to statistics, Nghe An province has 1,061 dams, of which 102 are managed by enterprises. To date, 26 dams have a capacity of <50% (in the same period in 2022, there were 12 dams). Of the 959 dams managed by the locality, none are full, 568 dams have a capacity of 40 -70% and 15 dams have a capacity of 20 - 30%. If the hot weather continues to last for a long time, hitting the peak of water pumping for plowing, harrowing, and planting in the summer-autumn crop, the water level in the dams will decrease sharply and cannot be maintained for the next irrigation periods.

Nau Dam, Nghi Van Commune, Nghi Loc District is dry, people can walk on the lake bed. Photo: QA

Nghi Loc district has 42 dams, of which Nghi Van commune has 19 large and small dams, accounting for nearly 50% of the total number of dams in the district. It is worth mentioning that this is the locality with the largest rice area in the district with 530 hectares, the water source for production depends entirely on dams because there are no rivers. According to records, the water level in dams in the commune is currently very low.

For example, at Ga Dam, Gieng Toi Dam, Nau Dam... the water level has dropped by more than 50%, some lakes only have a water level of a few dozen centimeters, people can easily cross the lake. The scene of cracked lake beds is not difficult to see in the hot weather.

Gieng Toi Dam, Nghi Loc district, cracked in the middle of the lake. Photo: QA

Mr. Ngo Van Thang, an agricultural officer of Nghi Van commune, said: The characteristic of the dams is that the amount of water stored depends entirely on rainwater. While the past time has been hot, there has been very little rain, water evaporates quickly, and it is expected that there will be no rain in the coming time, the amount of water in the remaining dams will be at dead water level, and hundreds of hectares of summer-autumn rice are expected to not be able to be planted on time.

Similar to Nghi Van commune, Nam Hung commune, Nam Dan district also depends entirely on water for production from dams because there is no river network flowing through. Mr. Nguyen Van Xuan - Chairman of Nam Hung commune People's Committee said: The whole commune has 15 dams, including a large one called Trang Den, the water level is currently below 50%, so it is very difficult to provide enough water for production for the summer-autumn crop, so the commune's summer-autumn rice area is about 95 hectares, with a sure mindset, the rest must be converted to crops to fight drought".

Water resources are depleted and canals are dry, so summer-autumn crop production cannot be carried out on schedule. Photo: QA

In Hung Nguyen district, there are 7 dams, including 2 large and 5 small, located mainly in the 2 communes of Hung Yen Bac and Hung Yen Nam. At this time, the water level in the dams is also very low and is expected to be only enough for 1-2 more water supplies, unable to provide enough for summer-autumn crop production if it does not rain.

Mr. Nguyen Truong Thanh - Head of the Irrigation Sub-Department said: The water supply at the dams is entirely from rainwater, there is no other supplementary source. Therefore, if the hot weather continues, the water level at the dams will decrease even more. Therefore, the province is directing localities to research and calculate so that areas at high risk of drought need to switch to drought-resistant crops for the summer-autumn crop. At the same time, dams managed by localities that are damaged and degraded need to allocate budget and irrigation fee sources to carry out repairs, ready to store water when it rains, ensuring production.