Agriculture - Rural areas

Binh Giang and Gia Loc are ready to install field pumping stations.

DAWN January 19, 2025 07:30

Binh Giang and Gia Loc districts (Hai Duong) are ready to install field pumping stations in the context of low and polluted water sources in the Bac Hung Hai system.

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Taking advantage of the less polluted Tay Ke Sat and Kim Son canals than before, many pumping stations in Binh Giang district take advantage of the situation to take water to dump (photo provided by the facility)

These are 2 of 3 districts with agricultural land area completely dependent on water source of Bac Hung Hai irrigation system.

The leader of the Binh Giang District Irrigation Works Exploitation Enterprise said that like last year, the dumping has been facing difficulties because the water sources of the Tay Ke Sat and Kim Son canals are often polluted.

Near the end of the first water discharge of Hoa Binh Hydropower Reservoir (from January 12-16), the pollution situation has decreased, the enterprise can open sluices such as Hoa Choe, O Xuyen, Co Bi, Cay, Ba Doan... to lead water into the main canal in the field.

However, the water level at the sluice gates is quite low, averaging only 0.9-1.1 m, down 0.3 m compared to the same period last year, the lowest level in many years.

The low water level in the Bac Hung Hai canal system makes it difficult to bring water to remote areas and high ground. Some pumping stations in Thai Hoa, Binh Xuyen, and Tan Hong communes still have no water to pump.

In Gia Loc district, when the hydroelectric reservoir released water for the first time, the water level in Kim Son canal was lower than the same period last year; water from Dinh Dao canal (taking water from Cau Xe sluice, An Tho) was sometimes contaminated with salt, so getting water into the fields also encountered many difficulties.

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Pham Xa pumping station (Gia Loc) maintains pumping operation to flood water (photo provided by the facility)

As of January 17, Binh Giang district had only flooded about 1,900 hectares of land for the 2024-2025 winter-spring rice crop, equal to 33.3% of the total crop area; Gia Loc district had only flooded 1,150 hectares, equal to 29.2%.

To cope with drought and saltwater intrusion, the Binh Giang District Irrigation Exploitation Enterprise has planned to install 3 field pumping stations with a capacity of 540-5,000 m3/hour at some key locations. The Gia Loc District Irrigation Exploitation Enterprise has also planned to install field pumping stations in communes such as Doan Thuong, Pham Tran, Hoang Dieu... and develop a source pumping plan.

Thanh Mien is the remaining district in Hai Duong whose agricultural land area depends entirely on water from the Bac Hung Hai irrigation system. During the first water discharge of the Hoa Binh hydroelectric reservoir, this district could hardly get water downstream through the Tay Ke Sat canal (because at the end of the source, the water level was only 0.8 m) but mainly got water upstream from Cau Xe sluice, An Tho (Tu Ky) through the Cuu An canal.

The advantage is that in recent days, the salinity at the two sluice gates above has been at a safe level, with an average water level of 1.2 m, so Thanh Mien district is taking maximum advantage of upstream water extraction. By January 18, the entire district had flooded about 1,550 hectares, equivalent to 26% of the total rice growing area. The district strives to basically complete the flooding of the entire area before Tet At Ty 2025.

Currently, many pumping stations in the above three districts are actively operating day and night to bring water from the canals of the Bac Hung Hai irrigation system into the fields.

It is forecasted that the salinity level exceeding the permissible threshold at the sluice gates of Thai Binh and Luoc rivers at Cau Xe and An Tho will tend to increase and continue, with complicated developments. The Bac Hung Hai system still has to receive more than 500,000 m3 of polluted wastewater per day and night.

According to the unified management plan, Bac Hung Hai Irrigation Works Exploitation One Member Co., Ltd. and the Provincial Irrigation Works Exploitation One Member Co., Ltd. will continue to closely monitor and supervise water levels and salinity at water intake gates to take advantage of every opportunity to operate the water intake works into the system, flooding the entire cultivated area.

In case before the end of the second discharge of Hoa Binh hydropower reservoir, the Bac Hung Hai system still has an area without water, we will closely monitor the hydrometeorological developments, the water source of the external river, the salinity at Cau Xe and An Tho sluices to take advantage of all conditions to operate the works to take maximum water into the system, combined with the operation of the Xuan Quan field pumping station when the water level of the Red River is low to provide additional source to the main canal. Under permissible conditions, actively operate the works to take water from the external river.

When the above contents have been implemented but there are still areas without water in the system, localities should study and install field stations to pump water from the main canal into the fields. Bac Hung Hai Irrigation Works Exploitation One Member Co., Ltd. will closely coordinate with localities to study, develop plans and act as the focal point to report to the Department of Irrigation for guidance.

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Binh Giang and Gia Loc are ready to install field pumping stations.