Many dams are "crumbling", Ha Tinh proposes to support nearly 560 billion VND

(Baohatinh.vn) - Ha Tinh has proposed the Central Government to support investment and repair of 44 seriously degraded lake and dam projects with a total estimated cost of 559.3 billion VND.

Heavy rains in May and June have continued to aggravate the landslide situation at Cha Cham Lake.

Cha Cham Reservoir has a designed capacity of 0.66 million m³, providing irrigation water for 38 hectares of agricultural land and part of the Khe Tay main canal in Huong Pho commune. After a long period of exploitation, the project has seriously degraded. In 2023, the reservoir suffered a landslide upstream and was temporarily repaired. However, heavy rains in May and June 2025 continued to aggravate the landslide; many sections have "eaten" deep into the top of the dam, and cracks have appeared on the dam body stretching tens of meters.

Faced with a high risk of insecurity, the Cha Cham Lake project was drained by the project management and exploitation unit without water storage.

In addition, the spillway is still an earthen spillway and has not been reinforced. The water intake is leaking, there is no working bridge, and opening and closing operations must still be performed manually. Faced with a high risk of insecurity, the project has been drained by the management unit to prevent water from being stored, and the upstream dam slope has been temporarily repaired and the spillway threshold has been lowered to increase flood discharge capacity.

Mr. Tran Nguyen Hong - Station Chief of Da Han Station (Nam Ha Tinh Irrigation Company Limited) said: "The most worrying thing is that if we continue to store water, the lake can collapse at any time during the rainy season, directly affecting more than 500 households living in Trung Hai, Dong Thinh, Thuong Hai villages (Huong Pho commune) only about 1 km from the foot of the dam. The company has coordinated with local authorities to propose that competent authorities promptly allocate funds for repairs and remediation to ensure the safety of the people."

Units are temporarily repairing the upstream roof of Cha Cham Lake.

Not only Cha Cham, Cu Lay - Truong Lao reservoir (Tung Loc commune) after decades of exploitation has also seriously degraded. According to information from the People's Committee of Tung Loc commune, the left wall of the water slope has tilted, many cracks have appeared; the last wall section has completely collapsed; the bottom of the water slope has long cracks. In particular, the downstream channel has been seriously eroded, eating deep into the soil on both sides, with a high risk of causing erosion and collapse of the downstream parts of the spillway, the energy dissipation yard and the energy dissipation part of the project.

In addition, many other projects such as Khe Da Lake (Son Kim II Commune), Dap Bang Lake (Toan Luu Commune), Khe Sung Lake (Ky Lac Commune), Vuc Rong Lake (Son Tien Commune), Muc Bai Lake (Huong Xuan Commune), etc. are also in a state of deterioration and damage. The risk of losing the safety of the projects during the rainy and stormy season is very high.

Leaders of Nam Ha Tinh Irrigation Company Limited inspected the unsafe situation at Muc Bai Lake (Huong Xuan Commune).

Currently, Ha Tinh has 348 irrigation reservoirs with a total capacity of over 1.6 billion ^m3 . Every year, the dam system provides irrigation water for more than 58,000 hectares of rice fields/year and upland crops, providing water for industry, people's lives, aquaculture, contributing to reducing downstream floods and improving the ecological environment.

However, most of the reservoirs were built 40 - 50 years ago (especially small reservoirs). After long-term use, being affected by natural disasters, and lacking funds for maintenance, many projects have deteriorated, posing a high risk of safety loss.

During the 2020 - 2025 period, the locality repaired and upgraded 35 irrigation reservoirs with a total cost of more than 350 billion VND.

Despite attention from the Central Government, international organizations and efforts to mobilize local resources, in the period of 2020 - 2025, Ha Tinh has only repaired and upgraded 35 irrigation reservoirs with a total cost of more than 350 billion VND. Currently, the whole province still has 116 damaged and degraded reservoirs and dams, of which 44 are severely damaged. If not handled promptly, there will be a high risk of construction incidents, affecting the safety of people's lives and property.

According to Mr. Tran Duc Thinh - Head of Ha Tinh Irrigation Sub-Department, after relevant agencies and units conducted a review, the Provincial People's Committee sent a document to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment proposing to consider and synthesize and submit to the Prime Minister for investment support to repair 44 works with a high level of danger with a total estimated cost of 559.3 billion VND.

For the remaining projects, the province will continue to balance and mobilize local resources for repair and upgrade. In the context of unusual and extreme weather conditions, with heavy rain and floods occurring irregularly, exceeding frequency and being difficult to predict, ensuring the safety of the irrigation system is an urgent requirement in the strategy to respond to climate change, protecting production and people's lives in a sustainable manner.

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/nhieu-ho-dap-reu-ra-ha-tinh-de-xuat-ho-tro-gan-560-ty-dong-post292139.html