VietNamNet Bridge – The Da Nang authorities have said to take the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and the Dak Mi 4 Hydropower Plant to the court if these agencies do not revise the draft regulations on operating hydropower reservoirs.

Da Nang officials said the basis for this lawsuit is that the above regulations, compiled by the MONRE, will cause major damage to the downstream area of the Vu Gia River while the Dak Mi 4 Hydropower Plant causes water shortage to the Vu Gia River downstream region.

Mr. Huynh Van Thang, deputy director of the Da Nang Department of Agriculture, Deputy Chief of the Da Nang Flood and Storm Prevention and Search - Rescue, said that according to calculations, Dak Mi 4 hydropower takes about 1,300 million m3 of water per year from the Vu Gia River.

According to the draft regulations, the A Vuong reservoir will be supplied with only 266 m3, down by 50% compared to the approved plan. If the regulations are applied, the Vu Gia River downstream will lack up to 700 million m3 in the dry season.

"The consultant firm which drafted the regulations only is only interested in the benefits of hydropower, not the benefits of nearly 1.7 million people living in the downstream of the Vu Gia River, including the districts of Dai Loc, Dien Ban and Hoi An tow of Quang Nam province and the city of Da Nang. These localities are facing water shortages, depletion of water resources," said Thang.

Thang said that the actual damage of the Vu Gia River downstream is 5 to 10 times bigger than the economic benefits brought about by Dak Mi 4 hydropower.

Each year, if only 30 percent of the 10,000 ha of paddy land in the Vu Gia River downstream area are affected, the losses will be VND200 billion ($10 million), not including diseases arising from water shortage and pollution.

The Cau Do Water Plant, which supplies water for the entire people of this region, has to pay a lot of money to treat pollution and to take more water 10km far from the plant. The cost for these tasks was VND13 billion ($700,000) in 2013. People also had to pay higher water charges.

Thang said Da Nang had asked the MONRE to revise the draft regulations to reduce losses for the Vu Gia River downstream but the Ministry did not change the draft.

He also complained about the draft regulations on flood discharge, saying that they are inappropriate.

On February 13, the MONRE’s Water Resource Management Department issued a dispatch giving feedback on the flood discharge on the Vu Gia River, which confirmed that the draft regulations have been carefully researched and considered, based on field studies.

On February 18, Thang said the dispatch is ridiculous and the Water Resource Management Department still set the benefits of hydropower above the interests of 1.7 million people, a serious violation of Article 60 of the Law on Water Resources on causing artificial droughts and water shortages.

"I have heard that the Water Resources Management Department reported to the Prime Minister that if Dak Mi 4 plant returns water back to the Vu Gia River at the request of Da Nang, this hydropower plant will suffer losses from VND55 to VND145 billion ($2.2-7.2 million). This is more ridiculous, because if the hydropower plant loses something that it has, it is considered losses. But in this case, they take water from nature so it should not be considered loss," said Thang.

VNE