Canals in Dien Lu commune are seriously degraded.

The irrigation canal system in Dien Lu commune is eroded and seriously degraded, causing loss of irrigation and drainage water.

The irrigation and drainage canals of Vo Dam and Dai Lan in Dien Lu commune were built in 2002 with investment capital sponsored by the Canadian Government. The canals provide irrigation water for about 50 hectares of local agricultural land. However, after many years of use, the canals have increasingly degraded. The most serious problem is that in the past 3 years, the walls and base of the canals have been permeated by water, causing flooding at the upstream area but there is a lack of water at the downstream area, affecting the agricultural production of local people.

Taking us to the field at the canal, Vo Village Chief Bui Duc Ha said: The Vo Dam irrigation and drainage canal is more than 120m long, serving irrigation for 5ha of rice and sugarcane of Vo Village people. Due to the degradation of the canal sections, households in the village are always worried about the lack of water for agricultural production. During the rainy season, water overflows all over the road, but in the dry season, there is a lack of water, affecting the agricultural production of the people. In recent years, every time the planting season is near, households in the village have to work very hard to fill in the severely damaged sections, clear the grass to bring water to the fields. If there are no timely remedial measures, the next rice crop will face even more difficulties.

As for Party Cell Secretary and Head of Dien Ly Village, Le Chi Dung, he said: Dai Lan canal is about 2.4km long, serving production for about 32ha, built with stone since 2003. Since then, the canal has not been maintained, repaired or upgraded. Recently, about 1.3km of the canal has degraded, causing water loss, some sections are no longer effective. During the production season, people really need a stable water source, ensuring effective irrigation and timely drainage, but with the current situation, it is difficult to meet production requirements.

“The degraded canals make irrigation difficult. When the rice is in bloom, we have to use measures to block irrigation and drainage canals to bring water into the fields. In the long term, people hope to receive attention from the authorities and local governments to have funds to upgrade and repair the canal system,” Mr. Dung added.

According to the survey, most of the irrigation works in the old Ba Thuoc district have 11 damaged and degraded canals, with a length of 18.8 km. The canals in the communes are all small and medium-sized projects, built more than 20 years ago in difficult economic conditions, with limited quality and construction technology. After many years of use, due to lack of regular repair and maintenance, combined with the impact of consecutive floods in recent years, the state of irrigation and drainage canals has become more and more degraded. Meanwhile, each year the budget for maintenance, repair and upgrading of degraded works is small. Therefore, the irrigation canal system is degraded, damaged and cracked, making it difficult to bring water to remote and high fields. At meetings with voters of People's Councils at all levels, local people and authorities have repeatedly requested that all levels and sectors pay attention to investing in repairing canals to help people produce more conveniently, but so far this has not been met.

The deterioration of irrigation works has been posing significant challenges to mountainous communes in production development. Faced with the above situation, all levels, sectors and localities need to pay attention and provide financial support for Dien Lu commune and other communes in the old Ba Thuoc district to maintain, repair and rebuild degraded irrigation works.

Article and photos: Tien Dat

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/kenh-muong-o-xa-dien-lu-xuong-cap-nghiem-trong-257289.htm