Danger as the Red river bed is lowering deeper and deeper

Lowered by 1.5m compared to 2021

On February 15, the delegation of the General Department of Irrigation and the Electricity Group (EVN) inspected the situation of water supply in the winter-spring crop at "hot spots" where often slow water intake in Hanoi. At Phu Sa field pumping station in Son Tay town (managed by Song Tich Irrigation Company Limited), the water level of the Red river fluctuates about 1.8 meter.

Nguyen Tri Hai, Deputy Director of Song Tich Irrigation Company, said that the Phu Sa field pumping station was designed for a water level of 2.2 meters. Therefore, at the current low water level, the operation of the pump units to collect water to pour in fields for sowing the winter-spring crop will last longer, and the volume of electricity consumed will be greater.

In recent years, the river bed of the Red river has been seriously lowered due to sand and gravel exploitation. The most seriously is at Trung Ha pumping station (Thai Hoa commune, Ba Vi district), where it is unable to operate in all three phases of enhanced water discharge to serve winter-spring 2021 - 2022, according to Nguyen Tri Hai.

Specifically, in 3 times of water intake, only 2 out of 9 units of Trung Ha pumping station could operate for 2 or 3 days. Explaining the above reason, the General Department of Irrigation said that the bed leading the Da river, especially the section from Ba Vi district (Hanoi) to the upstream, has been lowered from 1 to 1.5 meter compared to the same time last year 2021.

Regarding the water supply plan, Nguyen Tri Hai affirmed: "The company is putting all its efforts to ensure the supply of irrigation water as scheduled".

Up to now, the water area within the service area of Song Tich Irrigation Company has reached nearly 90%, the cultivated area is about 78% and the sowed area is about 60%.

Due to the effects of intense and prolonged cold, some seedling areas are still young, not yet eligible for planting. Therefore, Song Tich Irrigation Company requested the General Department of Irrigation and EVN to ensure that the water level of the Red river in Son Tay reaches 1.8 meter or more in the 3rd phase of water collection so that the company can take advantage to pump water into the system and store to serve the local planting late spring crop.

In addition, the districts and towns need to mobilize people to go to the fields to work when the water being pumped in, in order to avoid loss and waste.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development needs urgent and long-term solutions so that irrigation works along the Red river can actively collect water in normal flow conditions, regardless of the enhanced discharge of water from the hydroelectric reservoirs. Especially, the minisstry should invest in building new Phu Sa pumping station and other pumping stations.

Hanoi basically completed planting in February

Dang Anh Tuan, Director of the Hanoi Irrigation Sub-Department, said that up to now, about 96.5% of the city's winter-spring crop area has had enough water, with about 2,000 hectares (of which nearly 900 hectares depending on the water source of the Red river) are waiting for water, mainly in Thach That, Quoc Oai, Son Tay, and Ba Vi districts. With the current progress of water collection, it is expected that by February 16, the irrigation sector will basically supply enough water for farmers to plant in February.

Nguyen Quoc Chinh, Deputy Head of Engineering - Production Department of EVN, shared: According to the plan, the third phase of enhanced water discharge starts from 0:00 on February 13 to the end of February 17. However, the Group had generated electricity to strengthen Hoa Binh hydropower reservoir 2 days earlier to maintain the water level of the Red river in Son Tay, fluctuated at about 1.8 meter.

“This year, the situation of collecting water for the winter-spring crop is positive. Through the previous two releases of water, the sufficient water area in the Midlands and Northern Delta has reached about 95%. Therefore, the third phase of enhanced water discharge is flexibly regulated so that the Phu Sa pumping station and some field pumping stations of Hanoi can collect water. We guarantee 100% of the cultivated area in the whole area will have enough water as planned.”

According to EVN's calculations, through 2 phases of water discharge, about 1 billion m3 of water has been saved compared to the original plan. And with the current progress of water collection, Nguyen Hong Khanh, Director of the Department of Construction Management (General Department of Irrigation) said that in the 3rd phase of water collection, if the regulation is reasonable and flexible, we can save about 200 million m3 of water.

In the medium-term period from 2021 to 2025, many low-level pumping stations on the Red river system will be invested with new construction, typically Phu Sa pumping station, Lien Mac pumping station (Hanoi), Xuan Quan pumping station (Hung Yen), etc. When the works come into operation, the irrigation works on the Red River will operate more convenient.