Regarding the historic flood in Quy Chau mountain district, on October 12, 2023, Nghe An Newspaper published a two-part article "Quy Chau Flood: Things to Say". The article reported that the Standing Office of the Provincial Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control assessed that Prime Que Phong Joint Stock Company's announcement of flood discharge operations at Chau Thang Hydropower Reservoir did not comply with regulations, and had sent a document to correct the flood discharge operations to the hydropower plant owners.
Recently, we have had access to a document from the Standing Office of the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control. That is Official Dispatch No. 479/VPTT-PCTT dated October 3, 2023, signed by Mr. Nguyen Truong Thanh - Chief of Office of the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control and Disaster Prevention and Control, sent to owners of dams and hydropower reservoirs in the province. Here is the content: "From September 25 to the morning of September 29, the province had moderate to heavy rain, some places had very heavy rain with common rainfall from 250 + 400mm, some places had over 400mm. Specifically, at some stations as follows: KT Quy Chau: 431mm; TV Dua (Anh Son): 416mm, KT Do Luong: 463mm; TV Yen Thuong (Thanh Chuong): 437mm... During the above flood period, the owners of hydroelectric reservoirs in the province carried out regulation operations. However, through monitoring, it was shown that some owners of hydroelectric reservoirs did not properly notify the regulation according to the time specified in the operating procedure".
Therefore, the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention, Search and Rescue and Disaster Prevention recommends that dam and reservoir owners: “Strictly implement the regulations in the Inter-reservoir and Single-reservoir Operation Procedures. Proactively monitor, forecast and coordinate with reservoirs in the same basin to issue operating orders in accordance with regulations. Carry out hydro-meteorological forecasting in accordance with regulations in Article 25 of the Law on Hydro-Meteorology and regulations in the Single-reservoir and Inter-reservoir Operation Procedures; provide complete and timely monitoring and forecasting data to competent authorities in accordance with regulations. In addition, carry out notifications and warnings in accordance with regulations, ensuring safety for people and related activities on rivers and streams in the downstream areas of dams and factories before operating flood discharge through spillways, starting to discharge water for power generation or in cases of sudden increase in discharge flow to downstream areas…”.
Considering that Chau Thang and Nhan Hac hydropower plants were passive in the face of weather developments, they had to issue flood discharge notices between midnight and 2-3 am. Therefore, we request the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention, Search and Rescue and Disaster Prevention to comment on the forecasting work of these two hydropower plants. According to the representative, the Department of Industry and Trade has established an Inspection Team to inspect the implementation of the Inter-reservoir Operation Procedures and Single-reservoir Operation Procedures for the owners of Chau Thang and Nhan Hac hydropower dams and reservoirs, so we should wait for the inspection report of the Team.
However, the representative also "noted" that in Official Dispatch No. 479/VPTT-PCTT, it reminded the owners of hydroelectric dams to carry out hydrometeorological forecasting in accordance with the provisions of Article 25 of the Law on Hydrometeorology. At the same time, it said that at relevant meetings, the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control and Disaster Prevention and Control recommended that owners of hydroelectric dams and reservoirs pay attention to installing camera systems and monitoring stations so that forecasting work can be timely and avoid passive situations. Specifically, on July 25, 2023, the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control and Disaster Prevention and Control issued Official Dispatch No. 101/VPTT.PCTT requesting owners of hydroelectric dams and reservoirs to seriously implement the Inter-reservoir and Single-reservoir Operation Procedures, the contents of the approved plans (disaster response plans, flood prevention plans for downstream areas, etc.); provide complete and timely monitoring and forecasting data to the authorities; Carry out notifications and warnings in accordance with regulations, ensure safety for people and related activities on rivers and streams in the downstream area of dams and factories before operating flood discharge...
On October 4, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district reported the damage caused by the flood on September 26 and 27 to the Provincial People's Committee; including a request for the Provincial People's Committee to support, assess the cause of the flood, and review the flood discharge process of hydroelectric plants. Talking to Nghe An Newspaper reporter, Mr. Le Hai Ly - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district expressed his concerns and wanted to clarify two more issues. Firstly, the hydroelectric plant announced a flood discharge with a flow of 1,000m3, 2,000m3, 3,000m3…/s, which unit can monitor accurately? Second, what is the basis for the hydropower plant to release information on time A and time B to release flood? Mr. Le Hai Ly said: “Many residential villages in Quy Chau district are located along the river, some are only a few hundred meters from the plant. With sudden flood discharge, large discharge volume, and flow speed like a flash flood, how can people ensure the safety of their lives and property…”.
According to the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district, the Chau Thang and Nhan Hac hydropower plants are both located in Que Phong district, Quy Chau district in the downstream area, so for a long time there has been almost no connection. Specifically, these two hydropower plants do not have coordination regulations; they have not sent the natural disaster prevention plan of each hydropower plant to the People's Committee of Quy Chau district. "Quy Chau district only received the hydropower plant to send the operating procedure of the Ca River basin inter-reservoir approved in Decision 1605/QD-TT-BCT; when operating to release flood, they sent a notice... Because the hydropower plant lacks coordination, we are very passive" - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district Le Hai Ly added.
Studying the Operation Procedures for the Ca River Basin Inter-Reservoir (issued together with Decision No. 1605/QD-TTg, dated November 13, 2019 of the Prime Minister), in Clause 2, Article 5. Principles of reservoirs for flood reduction for downstream (Chapter II. Operation of reservoirs during flood season) clearly states: "Flood reduction operations for downstream must ensure that they do not cause sudden changes in flow or abnormalities that directly threaten the lives and property of people in the riverside areas downstream of reservoirs; in case of damage, compensation must be made according to the provisions of law".
The reservoir owner's responsibilities in organizing the operation of the reservoir and providing information and reports are stipulated in Clauses 2, 3, and 5 of Article 32, which are: "Monitoring the meteorological and hydrological situation; implementing the monitoring and forecasting regime and providing information, data and reporting regime according to the provisions of this Procedure"; "Installing cameras, monitoring equipment, automatic and online monitoring of the reservoir's water discharge operation"; "Implementing notifications and warnings to ensure the safety of people and related activities on rivers and streams in the downstream area of the dam and factory before operating flood discharge through the spillway, starting to discharge water for power generation or in cases of sudden increase in discharge flow downstream".
Article 36 and Article 37 stipulate that when there is a forecast of rain, flood or flood occurrence, the reservoir owner must organize rainfall monitoring according to regulations; monitor and calculate the reservoir water level, inflow to the reservoir, discharge through the spillway, through the factory at least once every 15 minutes; issue periodic flood forecast bulletins to the reservoir every 3 hours. The content of the forecast bulletin includes the current water level, inflow to the reservoir and the next 6:00, 12:00, 18:00, 24 hours, in which the time of flood peak to the reservoir must be forecast; the total discharge flow must be expected at the next 6:00, 12:00, 18:00, 24 hours. At the same time, the forecast bulletin must be immediately provided to the Provincial Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Control and Search and Rescue...
Talking to a scientist currently participating in the Project "Investigation and assessment of negative impacts of hydropower projects in Nghe An on the environment and proposing solutions to minimize impacts", he acknowledged that during the flood on September 26 and 27, the relevant hydropower plants did not comply with flood discharge operating procedures and were not truly responsible. Regarding the cause, according to him, it was due to weak scientific and technological infrastructure, leading to the inability to make early forecasts. "The installation of monitoring and rain gauge equipment for forecasting and early warning is the responsibility of the dam owner. This has been regulated..." - he said.
The scientist also recognized that most of the small and medium hydropower plants in the province are in this situation. Therefore, the Project in which he participated proposed a set of solutions to minimize the negative impacts of the hydropower system. These include solutions to improve the quality of meteorological and hydrological forecasting; solutions to improve the quality of calculations and forecasts of floods to reservoirs; solutions to operate reservoirs in emergency situations... "To improve the quality of meteorological and hydrological forecasting, it is necessary to supplement the number of monitoring stations, hydrological stations, and arrange enough rain gauges. Regarding the solution to operate reservoirs in emergency situations, it is necessary to build an emergency flood discharge chart for each project. This is a very necessary content. Because the forecast may have errors, the forecasted flood may be smaller than the flood to the reservoir, pushing the reservoir into a situation where it must discharge flood urgently to ensure the safety of the project, but leading to impacts on the downstream area..."./.