Located in Nghi Cong Bac commune (Nghi Loc), there is Nghi Cong irrigation lake project managed and operated by Nam Nghe An Irrigation One Member Co., Ltd. The lake was built in 1953, with a total basin area of 11.6km2.2, capacity of about 1.15 million m3water, performing the task of irrigating 185 hectares of agricultural land. This irrigation lake has 1 main dam and 2 auxiliary dams, currently supplying water to more than 400 hectares of agricultural land and local activities. Because in the 70 years of use, this project has never been dredged, so the soil and rocks have deposited in the upstream of the lake, creating high mounds, affecting the water storage, so it is necessary to dredge the sediment to increase the water storage capacity.
Faced with the silting of Nghi Cong Lake, in 2018 the management unit proposed a policy of dredging the lake bed and allowing mineral exploitation. According to the approved project, the volume of dredged soil and rock is 467,995m3on an area of 50,6726 hectares, implemented in 10 years, construction from April to August every year. Thanh Dat Construction and Land Leveling Company Limited (headquartered in Vinh city) is the winning bidder for dredging and mineral recovery in this lake. According to the signed contract, in the first 3 years, the construction unit is allowed to dredge 140,399 m3, and 7 years later dredged 327,596 m3Since 2019, the contractor has paid a one-time fee for exploitation rights for 3 years with an amount of nearly 1 billion VND.
According to Mr. Tran Van Nham - Director of Thanh Dat Construction and Land Leveling Company Limited, the dredging location is 150m from the dam body of the project, so it does not affect the dam body or the safety of the reservoir. The construction unit has also built embankments and cordoned off the exploitation areas so as not to affect the irrigation water source of the lake. The dredging area includes 4 areas with different dredging volumes and the shallowest exploitation depth is 0.5m and the deepest is 2.6m. Currently, the 3-year term of granting exploitation rights has expired, this unit is continuing to complete procedures to extend and continue construction next year.
In Nghi Loc district, in addition to Nghi Cong lake, Khe Go lake in Nghi Lam commune is also being dredged. This reservoir has a capacity of 5.4 million m3water. This is the largest reservoir in Nghi Loc district, managed by Nam Nghe An Irrigation One Member Co., Ltd. Since 2019, the dredging of this reservoir has been assigned to Tuan Truong Phat Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Vinh City). The dredging time is from April to August of the year, the amount of money for the right to dredge and collect minerals for 3 years is 500 million VND.
Mr. Ngo Tri Vinh - Head of Khe Go Lake said: Khe Go Lake was built during the war, around 1950, after a long period of use, the lake bed was silted up with a thick layer. In the dry season, the lake bed dries up, many cracked patches of soil are exposed. If there is no dredging solution, it will certainly affect the lake's irrigation capacity throughout the year. In fact, in recent years, every year during the dry season, the management unit has had to mobilize diesel pumps to pump water to irrigate the rice fields in the area, because the water is shallow and cannot flow through the regulating culvert.
Nghi Loc district has 44 reservoir projects, of which 8 are managed by Nam Nghe An Irrigation Company Limited, the rest are managed by the district and commune. Dredging and allowing businesses to exploit minerals in the reservoirs is considered a suitable approach in the context of increasing demand for fill soil to serve a number of industrial park construction projects in the area, or the demand for mud to serve brick factories. This helps to renovate and increase the capacity of reservoirs without the State having to invest money, but at the same time, it earns money for the budget when granting exploitation and exploitation rights to businesses.
Nghe An province currently has 1,061 reservoirs, including 55 large lakes and dams; 220 medium-sized dams and 786 small dams. Currently, nearly 400 reservoirs have been upgraded and repaired, while over 700 have not been repaired or upgraded, so the water storage capacity for irrigation and flood prevention has been seriously reduced. Because the reservoir system not only serves agricultural production, but also plays an important, long-term strategic role in ensuring irrigation, drainage, and flood control in downstream areas...
In Yen Thanh, this is the locality with the largest number of lakes and dams in the province with 252 large and small lakes and dams. Of which, 7 large lakes are under the management of Bac Nghe An Irrigation One Member Co., Ltd.; 116 lakes and dams are in the list of provincial management, the rest are managed by the locality. Currently, the demand for dredging lakes and dams in Yen Thanh is very large, but in recent years, only 2 lakes have been dredged, the rest are awaiting approval.
Mr. Le Van Hong - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Yen Thanh district said: dredging lakes and dams and allowing mineral exploitation is necessary in the context that the State does not have enough funds to carry out annual dredging. Meanwhile, most of the lakes and dams were built a long time ago and have been heavily silted. If dredging is allowed to be socialized, there will be many benefits, including businesses having raw materials, the State collecting taxes, increasing the capacity of reservoirs and preventing the "land bandits" that have been rampant for many years.
In Do Luong district, there are currently 112 large and small lakes and dams in the district, of which 4 large lakes are managed by the Bac Nghe An Irrigation One Member Co., Ltd., the rest are managed and exploited by the locality. Because the projects have been built for a long time, some of them are degraded and damaged, while the funding for upgrading, maintaining and repairing mainly depends on the annual irrigation fee. There are 3 dredging and mineral exploitation projects: Cho Ran dam (Dai Son); Khe Su - Vinh An dam (My Son); Long Thai dam (Thai Son).
At Cho Ran dam, Dai Son commune, this is a water reservoir built in 1987 and upgraded in 2005. This dam has a basin area of 1.1km2.2, capacity 0.72 million m3water, the lake area is 31.2 hectares. Cho Ran dam has been exploited for many years and has never been dredged, so the lake bed has been silted up quite a lot, not ensuring the water reserve for irrigation for the area in the area. Therefore, in 2020, Dai Son Commune People's Committee submitted a request for approval to renovate and dredge the lake bed and allow the exploitation of minerals (mainly mud and soil) at this dam. After receiving permission from the authorities, on March 24, 2022, Dai Son Commune People's Committee issued Decision No. 57, advising on the policy of consulting and designing a dredging plan, exploiting mud and sediment at Cho Ran lake bed with a volume of 268,012m3with dredging time of 5 years, average dredging depth from 1 - 1.5m. Currently, this project is under construction with a large amount of mud and soil dredged.
Mr. Nguyen Canh Lam - Chairman of Dai Son Commune People's Committee said: Cho Ran dam after more than 30 years of exploitation has been heavily silted, not ensuring water storage for irrigation of agricultural land. Therefore, the locality has submitted a proposal for dredging and renovation based on socialized capital. The implementation process does not use State funds, only using funds from the source of collecting mud and soil during dredging. In addition to Cho Ran dam, in Dai Son commune, Bau Sen lake is also on the list of eligible conditions for dredging and mineral collection.
Mr. Tran Van Hien - Vice Chairman of Do Luong District People's Committee shared: In the district, there are currently 112 large and small dams, many of which are degraded and have limited water storage capacity due to sedimentation. Every year, the district has to spend more than 10 billion VND for dredging and renovation, but that is not enough. Therefore, mobilizing socialization, allowing businesses to conduct dredging and exploit minerals is appropriate, so a common and appropriate policy is needed to implement. Avoid each locality having its own way of doing things, or arbitrarily implementing them without going through management agencies, causing loss of resources.
