Improving the service capacity of the irrigation system

In recent years, the irrigation system in the province has always received investment and upgrading attention. The whole province currently has 61 pumping stations, with 341 pumps with a capacity of 1,000 - 36,000 m3/hour. Many large-capacity irrigation and drainage pumping stations are built with modern technology such as: Kinh Thanh II pumping station (Thanh Liem); Ngoi Ruot, Trinh Xa, Thinh Chau (Phu Ly city); Bui 1, Bui 2, Hoanh Uyen II (Duy Tien town)...

Along with that, the Agricultural Service Cooperatives (ASCs) manage and operate 390 small and medium-sized pumping stations in the fields. The whole province also has more than 4,000 km of irrigation and drainage canals; of which, many canals (most of the irrigation canals) are solidly built... The investment and upgrading of the irrigation system has made an important contribution to irrigation and drainage for production in the area.

Mr. Le Van Hoa, Director of Ha Nam Irrigation Works Exploitation Company Limited (KTCTTL) said: The drainage capacity of irrigation works in the province can ensure 200 mm of rainfall in 2 days, drainage time is 3 days. With drainage for agricultural production, the operation capacity of the works is basically guaranteed. However, the main problem for the irrigation system is to serve in unfavorable weather conditions and to take on the responsibility of drainage for economic development and serving people's lives.

Workers of Thanh Liem Irrigation Enterprise clear obstacles on the TB drainage canal, part of the Nham Trang pumping station system.

Practical research shows that the main difficulty of the current irrigation system is the drainage stage. According to the requirements, the average drainage coefficient must be increased from 7 - 8 l/s/ha. Particularly, drainage for urban and industrial areas must meet the drainage coefficient of up to 18 l/s/ha, about 3 times higher than the current one. Moreover, the construction of irrigation works has not been synchronized between the main pumping station and the canal system. Some newly built pumping stations have large capacity, but the canals are old, small, narrow, and silted. This leads to the situation where the pumping station lacks water in the suction tank, can only operate at part of its capacity, and has to cut down the number of machines, such as: Kinh Thanh II Pumping Station, Ngoi Ruot, Trieu Xa... In some localities, the drainage pumping stations have not been upgraded to keep up with the speed of socio -economic development, causing overload. For example, the Hoang Tay and Tan Son pumping stations (Kim Bang) are currently responsible for drainage for projects, industrial parks, and urban areas that exceed their actual capacity by 8-10 times. The capacity of the projects is limited, while the funding for excavation, dredging canals, and repairing projects in the province only meets about 50% of the demand, because the irrigation fee compensation has not increased for more than 10 years, although other costs (electricity, labor, materials, etc.) have increased significantly compared to before. At Ha Nam KTCTTL One Member Co., Ltd., in 2024, only nearly 15 billion VND was allocated for dredging canals and repairing works, while the actual need was more than 30 billion VND... According to Mr. Vu Duc Minh, Head of the Irrigation Sub-Department (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development): From the impact of climate change and the general development of the socio-economy, the requirement to improve the service capacity of the irrigation system is very large.

To overcome the limitations of the irrigation system, many solutions have been deployed. For agricultural production, the agricultural sector coordinates with localities to proactively calculate the shift in crop structure and crop variety structure to limit the impact of drought and waterlogging; convert low-lying fields that are often flooded during the rainy season to aquaculture. Irrigation enterprises and agricultural service cooperatives choose to dredge and repair canals and pumping stations when necessary; remove obstacles, regularly clear the flow on the canal, especially at points where blockages often occur, the heads of drainage culverts... In conditions of heavy rain, the solution of localized drainage with field pumps is deployed to ensure the fastest drainage to the main canal. Regarding long-term measures, competent authorities need to consider raising the level of irrigation fee compensation to meet the needs of investment, maintenance, repair, and regular annual repair of the irrigation system...

Unfavorable weather developments are increasingly complex and unpredictable, especially with more frequent heavy rains. Therefore, the need to improve the service capacity of the irrigation system is extremely necessary, especially to resolve current limitations and difficulties in order to further improve the service capacity of irrigation works, contributing to promoting the socio-economic development of the province.

Manh Hung

Source: https://baohanam.com.vn/kinh-te/giao-thong-xay-dung/nang-cao-nang-luc-phuc-vu-cua-he-thong-cong-trinh-thuy-loi-139443.html