Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - The upgrade of four major northern reservoirs – Son La, Hoa Binh, Thac Ba and Tuyen Quang – could ease power shortage by 10-33 percent, reduce 70 percent losses from flood, and deal with 93 percent of water shortage in the Red River delta, according to an irrigation expert.
The statement was made by Bui Nam Sach, head of the Institute for Irrigation Planning at a conference in Hanoi on November 19, as part of a 1.7-million-EUR project on sustainable management of water resources in Hong and Thai Binh river systems amidst climate change conditions.
The Italian-funded project, which has been implemented since 2012, focused on seeking optimal measures towards targets of ensuring water supply, flood control, power generation, waterway traffic and lower stream environment.
With a total capacity of over 20 billion cubic metres, they are the four largest reservoirs in Vietnam and among biggest ones in Southeast Asia.
Measures including in the project should prove efficiency in drought condition while ensuring Red River water level in Hanoi stay under 13.4m in circumstance of extreme flood.
According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang, Vietnam is currently facing many difficulties in managing and using water resources in a sustainable manner, as well as sharing interest with involved parties in the context of changes in water resources due to climate change.
Meanwhile, Rodolfo Soncini Sessa, project coordinator, said the project revealed that the current sand exploitation ratio in the Red-Thai Binh River basin is 21 million cubic metres per year.
If the situation continues, the riverbed of the Red River will lower by 70cm in ten years, causing serious erosion, he held.
He added that the Red-TwoLe model, which was handed over by the Italian Ambassador in Vietnam Cecilia Piccioni to Vietnam’s management agencies, could help reduce climate change impacts through the system of design support and geographical information portal.-VNA
