Bringing water over Dong Tram mountain 'revives' the 'thirsty' land of Nghi Van

The land of "thirst"

We arrived in Nghi Van commune one day in mid-May 2025, when the early summer sun had begun to shine harshly. This is an area located in the west of Nghi Loc district, bordering Yen Thanh and Do Luong districts. It was once considered a new economic zone of Nghi Loc district, however, irrigation conditions here are extremely limited.

For a long time, the entire Nghi Van commune has relied on natural rainwater stored in 19 small lakes and dams. In years of harsh weather, the lakes dry up, and people have had to rely on open wells or abandon their crops.

The vast fields of Nghi Van commune have long produced only one rice crop due to lack of irrigation water. Photo: Tien Dong

Mr. Doan Van Dung - Chairman of the Commune People's Committee shared: Nghi Van has an agricultural land area of ​​up to 932 hectares, of which 513 hectares are 2-rice land, the rest is fertile land and other types of land for growing perennial crops. About 10 years ago, in the area, the 2-rice land area could only produce 1 season, the rest had to be left fallow. In recent years, the land area for 2-rice production has increased, but it is also very erratic, because in the summer-autumn crop, many areas do not have irrigation water.

Mr. Dung explained that Nghi Van commune is not located in the irrigation area of ​​traditional pumping stations and often faces drought. Because the pumping station system of Nghi Loc district depends on the water source regulated from Nam Dan sluice flowing through the Gai canal system and cannot reach Nghi Van commune. Meanwhile, the Northern Irrigation system that brings water from Bara Do Luong to the Dien - Yen - Quynh fields cannot irrigate this land because it is separated by many mountain ranges.

Lakes and dams in Nghi Van commune often dry up. In the photo is Nau dam with very little water reserves. Photo: Quang An

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Although there are 19 large and small lakes and dams, accounting for nearly 50% of the lakes and dams of the entire Nghi Loc district, ironically, only Lach Buoi Lake, located in the south of the commune, under the management of Nghi Loc Irrigation Enterprise, has the ability to store large amounts of water. However, the water volume of this lake is also very unstable. The remaining 18 lakes under local management have very low water reserves.

Mr. Doan Van Dung - Chairman of Nghi Van Commune People's Committee

This is the reason why Nghi Van commune is always considered the "thirsty" land of Nghi Loc district. In addition to the lack of water for irrigation of crops, the water source for people's daily life as well as livestock is also affected.

In recent years, people in Nghi Van commune have had to use wells 40-60m deep to have enough water for daily life and livestock farming.

Expectations from historical works

Faced with the urgent need to "quench the thirst" of Nghi Van commune, on July 7, 2023, the People's Council of Nghe An province issued Resolution No. 23/NQ-HDND on investment policy for public investment projects in Nghe An province, including the Project to build a pumping station and canal system in Son Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district and Nghi Van commune, Nghi Loc district.

This project has a total investment of 85 billion VND, with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (now the Department of Agriculture and Environment) as the investor. On January 11, 2025, the project officially started and is expected to be completed on December 31, 2025.

Route map of the Project to build a pumping station and canal system in Son Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district and Nghi Van commune, Nghi Loc district. Photo: Tien Dong

The project's objective is to take water from the N2 canal system of the Northern Nghe An Irrigation System (flowing through Yen Thanh and Dien Chau districts), and pass it through the Dong Tram mountain range (separating Son Thanh and Nghi Van communes), to irrigate more than 700 hectares of agricultural land and create a source of domestic water for nearly 14,000 people in Son Thanh and Nghi Van communes.

To achieve this goal, the project will build a pumping station system including: Channel leading to the pumping station (leading water from channel N2 to the pumping station's suction tank, 1.6 km long); System of station houses, suction tanks, discharge tanks, pumps, discharge pipes, suction pipes, management houses, operating power lines; Channel system after the discharge tank (by HDPE pipes buried underground); Lake channel system.

The special thing is that the water source from the N2 canal, after being led to the Son Thanh pumping station, will be pumped up into the discharge tanks, then led to the available reservoirs. Of which, there are 2 lakes in Son Thanh commune, Cay Tang lake and Ho lake. In Nghi Van commune, water from discharge tank No. 1 will be led through a pipeline of more than 2.6 km to Khe Lim lake, then from the canal system will be led to Vung Trang lake and Vung Cau lake.

Location of project items seen from satellite map. Photo: Tien Dong

It is the act of bringing water over the mountain that makes this a historic project, serving a large, potential land that previously had to rely on natural water sources. This project is also expected to promote many economic models that bring high value, improving people's lives after completion.

Mr. Tran Quoc Hoan - Deputy Director of the Project Management Board for Investment in Construction of Agricultural and Rural Development Works (representative of the project investor) said: To implement this project, 15,410m2 of ^two -crop rice land and 15,186m2 ^of protective forest land must be converted to other uses. Currently, the localities where the project passes through are speeding up the progress to carry out the site clearance work. At the same time, the construction units are also urgently speeding up the progress in the locations where the land is available.

Pumping station in Son Thanh commune under construction. Photo: Tien Dong

In particular, because this time coincides with the peak agricultural production of the people, the investor's representative also requested the contractor to flexibly adjust the construction organization plan.

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We have directed the construction units to prioritize the construction of items with available land; proactively divide the construction into stages so as not to passively wait for land for the entire route. Review and propose temporary construction plans to ensure people's production while not delaying construction.

Mr. Tran Quoc Hoan - Deputy Director of Project Management Board for Investment in Construction of Agricultural Works and Rural Development of Nghe An

It can be seen that the Project of Construction of Pumping Station and Canal System in Son Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District and Nghi Van Commune, Nghi Loc District is a special project. Therefore, it requires the investor, as well as related localities to comply with the completion schedule, contributing to putting the project into operation soon and promoting the highest efficiency. It will also be a big "push" for the transformation of agricultural production, contributing to stabilizing people's lives and developing the local economy in a sustainable direction.

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Source: https://baonghean.vn/dua-nuoc-vuot-nui-dong-tram-hoi-sinh-vung-dat-khat-nghi-van-10297928.html