Comprehensive review and assessment of the operation of irrigation reservoirs

Photo caption — Technical staff of Quang Nam Irrigation Exploitation One Member Co., Ltd. supervise the reservoir operation and regulation process. Photo: Doan Huu Trung/VNA

Implementing Conclusion No. 213-KL/TW dated November 21, 2025 of the Secretariat on continuing to implement Directive No. 42-CT/TW dated March 24, 2020 on strengthening the Party's leadership in the work of preventing, responding to and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and the Conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha at the meeting on responding to storm No. 15 and continuing to overcome the consequences of floods in the Central provinces (Notice No. 646/TB VPCP dated November 27, 2025).

In order to proactively and effectively respond to natural disasters in the coming time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment requires units managing and exploiting important irrigation reservoirs and inter-provincial irrigation reservoirs to review and comprehensively evaluate the operation of irrigation reservoirs according to the operating procedures and organization and implementation work in the past time, ensuring the safety of works, downstream areas and serving multi-purpose water supply (such as: Law on Natural Disaster Prevention, Civil Defense, Water Resources, ... and documents guiding implementation), the situation of rain and floods as a basis for adjusting and supplementing the operating procedures in accordance with the conditions of climate change, extreme rain and floods, infrastructure and downstream safety requirements. Complete the review and prepare documents to adjust the operating procedures before April 2026.

The review and assessment should note: prioritizing the useful capacity of the reservoir to cut floods for downstream areas; in which, pre-flood water levels should be flexibly regulated to maximize flood prevention capacity; using a part of the flood prevention capacity above the normal rising water level of the reservoir to improve the ability to cut and reduce floods for downstream areas.

At the same time, specify the minimum notice time before flood discharge; methods of communication and warning to agencies, units and people in the affected area (flood discharge time, flood discharge volume, scope and level of flooding, etc.), communication and warning solutions when there is no phone signal or power outage; update data, share monitoring and operation data of works; coordination regulations with commune-level authorities and related units downstream to monitor, supervise and provide relevant information for management and operation.

Regulations on construction monitoring, specialized hydrometeorological monitoring, calculation of inflow to the reservoir, downstream monitoring of the reservoir and technical procedures for operating the sluice gate. Assign clear tasks and responsibilities to each unit and individual to ensure safety for the construction and downstream.

Units coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Environment and relevant local agencies and units to collect flood data to update or develop new disaster response plans for projects, downstream flood maps, flood escape corridors and emergency response plans for reservoirs close to reality, ensuring the "four on-site" motto and suitable to the specific situation of operating local governments at 2 levels.

Units organize inspections and assessments of the current status of reservoirs after the 2025 flood season, develop repair plans and options to ensure project safety during the 2026 flood season and the following years (check electrical systems, backup power sources, and gate lifting equipment to ensure accurate and safe operation).

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment requests to synthesize the proposed work contents and add them to the unit's production and business plan in 2026 according to regulations. For units managing and exploiting important irrigation reservoirs, especially important ones, send the reporting results to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (through the Department of Irrigation Works Management and Construction) before January 15, 2026; units managing and exploiting inter-provincial irrigation reservoirs send the reporting results to the Provincial People's Committee to arrange funding for implementation, synthesize and send the results to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment before January 30, 2026.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/ra-soat-danh-gia-toan-dien-viec-van-hanh-cac-ho-chua-thuy-loi-20251209161812024.htm