Dak Lak ensures safety of lakes and dams before storm No. 13 makes landfall

In Dak Lak province, there are many lakes, dams, irrigation works, and hydroelectric plants, including lakes and dams with large water capacity and located at the headwaters of rivers and streams.

Storm No. 13 ( Kalmaegi ) is forecast to directly affect the South Central provinces, including Dak Lak province, with strong intensity, causing heavy rain and making landfall on the evening of November 6. Worryingly, most of the lakes and dams are full of water, leading to safety risks.

From ensuring the safety of dams, irrigation works...

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dak Lak province, the whole province currently has 1,208 irrigation works, including 676 reservoirs, 286 dams, 244 pumping stations and 2 dyke systems. Of these, many works have degraded, posing a potential risk of insecurity during the 2025 flood season.

Of these, Dak Lak Irrigation Works Management One Member Limited Liability Company alone manages 361 works including 253 reservoirs, 90 dams, and 18 pumping stations in the western part of the province. Of the 253 reservoirs, there are 49 large reservoirs, 146 medium reservoirs, and 58 small reservoirs.

Leaders of Dak Lak Irrigation Works Management One Member Limited Liability Company inspect Ea H'leo 1 Lake.

According to the Company's inspection, as of November 5, out of 253 reservoirs managed by the Company, 183 reservoirs have reached normal water level (100%), 60 reservoirs are at 70 to below 90%, 7 reservoirs are at 50 to below 70% and 3 reservoirs are at below 50%.

Mr. Trinh Quoc Bao, Deputy Director of Dak Lak Irrigation Works Management One Member Limited Liability Company, said that to proactively prevent, combat and respond to storm No. 13 , the Company has established 4 working groups led by the Company's leaders to inspect the actual works and 1 group on duty at the Company's office.

The inspection work focuses on monitoring the operation and regulation of reservoirs appropriately, reinforcing key items, proactively preparing plans to respond to floods and storms, especially when storm No. 13 makes landfall; at the same time, directing specialized departments and affiliated branches to regularly update and monitor weather developments to operate and regulate reservoirs appropriately; strictly implementing monitoring and reporting regimes according to regulations.

Leaders of Dak Lak Irrigation Works Management One Member Limited Liability Company check the technical parameters of Ea H'leo 1 Lake.

The Company's leaders directed the Branch Directors to assign and arrange technical staff and workers to regularly inspect the situation of construction works and downstream areas to implement measures to ensure safety for construction works and downstream areas.

When there is a flood, workers must be on duty at the construction site 24/7 to be ready to handle any situations that may arise, and report according to regulations, especially for key projects, projects that have accumulated enough water, and inter-reservoir projects.

For reservoirs with flood control gates, especially reservoirs with operating procedures, strictly implement the regulation operation according to the approved procedures.

Of which, there are 9 reservoirs including: Ea H'leo 1, Krong Buk Ha, Vu Bon, Ea Rot, Krong Pach Thuong, Buon Joong, Ea Sup Thuong, Ea Sup Ha, Ea Kao are operating to regulate the spillway according to the process approved by the Provincial People's Committee to receive floods.

For reservoirs with inter-reservoir operation procedures in the Srepok River basin such as Krong Buk Ha reservoir and Ea Rot reservoir, in addition to following the reservoir operation procedures, it is also necessary to strictly implement the regulations in the inter-reservoir operation procedures; at the same time, proactively coordinate with local authorities and be ready to implement disaster response plans when heavy rains and floods occur.

Leaders of Dak Lak Irrigation Works Management One Member Limited Liability Company and related sectors discussed plans for safe operation of the dam when storm No. 13 makes landfall.

… to the hydroelectric plant

Buon Kuop Hydropower Company is currently managing the Buon Tua Srah, Buon Kuop and Srepok 3 reservoirs. According to the Company's leaders, due to the impact of the tropical depression in early September and storms No. 7 and No. 8, since the beginning of September, there has been widespread light and moderate rain in the basins of the reservoirs, with some areas experiencing moderate to heavy rain.

At 10:00 a.m. on November 4, the water level of Buon Tua Sarh Lake reached 487,247m/487,500m of normal water level; the water level of Buon Kuop Lake reached 411,540m/412,000m of normal water level; the water level of Srepok 3 Lake reached 271,924m/272,000m of normal water level.

Faced with the complicated developments of storm No. 13, which is forecast to be a very strong storm when it makes landfall in the South Central provinces, it will cause widespread heavy rain, directly affecting Dak Lak province.

Mr. Nguyen Duc, Deputy Director of Buon Kuop Hydropower Company, said that to proactively respond to storm 13, the Company has completed the Command Board, Spillway Technical Subcommittee, and Shock Teams of the factories and assigned specific tasks to each member; developed a plan for natural disaster prevention, control, and search and rescue; the plan closely follows the contents of documents and directives of localities at all levels, of Vietnam Electricity Group, Power Generation Corporation 3 and is suitable to the actual situation and characteristics of the company.

Ensure the motto of "4 on-site" and "3 ready". Develop typical flood regulation scenarios (corresponding to floods with frequencies of 1%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 10%) to respond to possible flood situations on reservoirs; ensure safe operation of works, reasonable and effective flood regulation to minimize damage to downstream areas when natural disasters occur, and avoid passive situations in reservoir regulation.

In addition, implementing the response plans for storm No. 13 of the Dak Lak Provincial Civil Defense Command, hydropower companies: Krong H'nang, Song Hinh, Song Ba Ha in the eastern part of the province gradually operated the reservoir water level to flood level, preventing storm No. 13.

Specifically, Krong H'nang hydropower plant must bring the current water level to 251.5m; Song Hinh hydropower plant must bring the current water level to 204.5m; Song Ba Ha hydropower plant must bring the current water level to 102m.

Operation of Buon Tua Sarh Hydropower Plant.

The Dak Lak Provincial Civil Defense Command has requested these hydropower companies to gradually lower the water level before 3 p.m. on November 5, before storm No. 13 makes landfall. When operating the water level, hydropower companies must comply with regulations, ensuring that they do not cause floods, directly threatening the lives and property of people in downstream areas.

With the strong direction of the leaders of Dak Lak province, the Dak Lak Provincial Civil Defense Command and the proactive participation of businesses, owners of lakes, dams, irrigation works, hydroelectric plants, etc., up to now, lakes, dams, reservoirs, irrigation works, hydroelectric plants in the province have been ensured, operated safely and units are ready with effective response plans and scenarios before storm No. 13 makes landfall.

Nguyen Cong Ly

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/dak-lak-bao-dam-an-toan-ho-dap-truoc-khi-bao-so-13-do-bo-400664.html