Hydropower plants increase water discharge, some pumping stations along Lam River resume operation

After a long period of “thirst” for water, since this morning (March 18), some spring rice fields in Thanh Chuong district have begun to be “saved”. Thanks to the Lam River water level rising by about 30cm, starting from 8am, Cat Van pumping station has pumped 1 pump, Thanh Hung station 1 pump and is operating pump number 2.

Cat Van pumping station (Thanh Chuong) resumed operations from the morning of March 18. Photo: Contributor

Vice Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee Le Dinh Thanh said: These two pumping stations operating at full capacity will serve irrigation for about 250 hectares of rice. In the rice areas that have been pumped and irrigated, the district directed the communes to guide people to focus on fertilizing the rice so that it can tiller well, prepare to stand, and form panicles.

Thus, in Thanh Chuong district, there are still 3 pumping stations managed by Thanh Chuong Irrigation Limited Company (including: Rang pumping station, Ru Nguoc station, Dong Van station), and 1 pumping station managed by the commune, Van Long station (Dai Dong commune) that are still unable to resume operation.

“When there is water, the pumping stations will operate at maximum capacity to concentrate on irrigation pumping. The district also directs localities and people to coordinate with irrigation units to pump water to the fields; at the same time, continue to check and build embankments to minimize water loss,” Mr. Le Dinh Thanh shared.

On March 14, provincial leaders inspected and sought solutions at Rang pumping station (Thanh Chuong). Photo: Phu Huong

Thanks to Khe Bo Hydropower Plant releasing water to produce electricity, along with efforts to dredge and extend the suction pipe, Trung Son pumping station (Do Luong) has also started operating again since March 14. However, by March 17, the river water level had dropped again, and all pumps had stopped operating. Trung Son Commune continued to mobilize excavators to deepen the suction tank, extend the suction pipe by 1.5m, and at the same time focus on handling the problem of a stuck fan blade in a pump.

Since the morning of March 18, the water level of Lam River has risen by about 30cm and has continued to pump at one pump.

Trung Son Commune (Do Luong) organized to handle the incident and add more suction pipes at the pumping station. Photo: Contributor

Mr. Doan Van Linh - Chairman of the Commune People's Committee said: Up to now, the water source has met the irrigation needs for about 70% of the drought-affected rice area. If the irrigation is continuously pumped, in about 4 days the water will cover 200 hectares of rice. Currently, people are pruning the planted areas according to the crop schedule, some previously planted areas are being focused on fertilizing to form panicles.

Trung Son pumping station is back in operation, meeting about 70% of irrigation water needs. Photo: Contributor

According to Mr. Ta Huu Hung - Director of Ban Ve Hydropower Company, this year, the water level on the hydropower reservoir is lower than every year due to low water flow. "After several concentrated discharges, the water level on the reservoir is now 5m lower than the minimum water level of the inter-reservoir process. However, after receiving the directive document from the Provincial People's Committee, from March 17, we have discharged downstream with a discharge level of no less than 160m³/s", Mr. Hung said, at the same time recommending that, because the discharge level will be different at each time, pumping stations need to be on duty 24/7 so that water is pumped immediately as it rises, not to waste it.