Deploying the central province flood prevention project in the direction of risk management and controlled natural disaster management

On the morning of November 13, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep and Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province Pham Hoang Son co-chaired the working program between the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province on the proposal of the Project on Flood Control System in the central area of ​​the province and the Project on building a new Gia Bay bridge.

Also attending were leaders of departments, offices and institutes under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment ; leaders of Thai Nguyen province including comrade Trinh Xuan Truong, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, along with Vice Chairmen of the Provincial People's Committee and representatives of relevant departments, branches and localities.

Delegates attending the meeting.

Reporting at the meeting, representatives of specialized agencies said: The Cau River section flowing through Thai Nguyen province is about 190km long, of which 16km passes through the center of the province, and plays a particularly important role in drainage, water supply and landscape creation. However, climate change has caused extreme floods to increase, the flood prevention system is not yet synchronized, leading to severe damage during floods caused by storms in 2024 and 2025.

Leaders of the Provincial Project Management Board for Investment in Construction of Transport and Agricultural Works reported on project proposals.

Based on that reality, the Party Executive Committee of Thai Nguyen province has agreed on the investment policy for the Central Flood Control Works Project and the Gia Bay Bridge Construction Project, with a total estimated capital of more than 22,900 billion VND, belonging to Group A, including many key items: Construction of Thac Huong 2 spillway, dike system on both banks of Cau River, pumping station, dredging Mo Linh stream and bridges across the river. The new Gia Bay Bridge construction project alone has a total investment of about 617 billion VND, implemented in the period of 2025-2026, aiming to expand the flood discharge aperture, overcome flow bottlenecks, and ensure traffic safety.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Pham Hoang Son spoke at the meeting.

Representatives of agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment spoke at the meeting.

At the meeting, delegates agreed on the following points of view: It is necessary to carefully calculate the impact of the construction system on the downstream area, ensuring the overall efficiency of the entire Cau River basin. In addition to "hardware" construction solutions, it is necessary to synchronously combine "software" construction solutions such as inter-reservoir operation, enhanced forecasting, upstream forest restoration, improved operational capacity, and application of digital technology in hydrological management and natural disaster warning.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep emphasized: Thai Nguyen has suffered from floods exceeding history for two consecutive years, so no project can withstand them without changing its approach. The Ministry's leaders agreed on the viewpoint of risk management in a controlled, natural direction, solving flooding in a comprehensive and long-term manner, instead of dealing with each area locally.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep spoke at the meeting.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep said that in December 2025, the Ministry will request its affiliated units to complete an extraordinary research task for the entire Cau River basin, providing an overview based on scientific data to solve the problem of flood prevention and control for the entire basin from Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh, Hanoi and Hai Phong. In particular, focusing on a number of key groups of issues such as: Reviewing dike elevations, adjusting local planning, identifying flow bottlenecks, quick drainage solutions, dredging plans and inter-regional reservoir operation plans.

In the immediate future, in 2025, the province is proposed to start the urban flood drainage project in the core area of ​​Thai Nguyen and build the new Gia Bay bridge; from the beginning of 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will implement the Thac Huong dam project and dredge some river and stream sections in the central area. In the period of 2026-2030, continue to upgrade and renovate 5 large reservoirs (Cam Giang, Thanh Mai, Nghinh Tuong, Yen Trach, Van Lang), apply artificial intelligence in long-term forecasting to minimize natural disaster risks.

With these comprehensive solutions, disaster risk management adaptation will be ensured to be appropriate and ensure safety for the entire Cau River basin in a long-term and sustainable manner.

Provincial Party Secretary Trinh Xuan Truong speaks at the meeting.

Speaking at the meeting, Provincial Party Secretary Trinh Xuan Truong said that the comprehensive study of the dyke system, flood prevention and control works on both sides of the river, ensuring synchronous, effective and sustainable investment is not only an urgent direction of the Party and State leaders, the desire of the Party Committee and the government, but also an urgent need of the people of Thai Nguyen. The Provincial Party Secretary sincerely thanked the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for their attention, and affirmed that the province agrees with the viewpoint of a comprehensive, inter-regional approach, connecting the Cau River - Thuong River, both preventing floods and creating space for urban development on both sides of the river.

The province is committed to proactively arranging capital for early implementation of Gia Bay Bridge, coordinating with the Ministry to soon start construction of Thac Huong Dam, and at the same time completing site clearance work, preparing resources for upstream flood control reservoir projects, ensuring feasibility and investment efficiency.

With the approach of "following nature - risk management - sustainable development", the Central Flood Control System Project of Thai Nguyen province not only aims to solve the local flooding situation, but also opens up a new vision of urban planning, security and safety for hundreds of thousands of people in the core area of ​​the province in the context of increasingly complex climate change.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202511/trien-khai-du-an-chong-ngap-trung-tam-tinh-theo-huong-quan-tri-rui-ro-thuan-thien-co-kiem-soat-00f5988/