VietNamNet Bridge – The Provinces of Binh Duong and Tay Ninh as well as HCM City could face more bouts of flooding if solutions are not found to correct problems associated with the Dau Tieng Reservoir located on the the upper part of the Sai Gon River.

Dau Tieng Lake in Tay Ninh Province is the largest irrigation reservoir in Viet Nam with a capacity of 1.6 billion cubic meters, enough to water 63,000 hectares of farmland in Tay Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City plus 40,000 hectares in the provinces of Binh Duong and Long An through the Saigon and Vam Co Rivers. (Photo: VNS)
Because of heavy rainfall, the reservoir with a capacity of 1.58billion cubic metre is beyond full capacity and may have to release water, which could cause flooding.

The existing water level is at 23.35m, and the reservoir's excess peak is 24.4m.

Reservoir officials may be forced to release the water at a higher than normal speed if rainfall continues to be high.

The capacity of the reservoir has shrunk because local residents are using it for aquaculture, according to experts, who spoke at a recent conference on reservoir management held last Friday in HCM City.

Vu Duc Hung, chairman of the reservoir management company, said 10 households had built dykes inside the reservoir to create ponds for aquaculture, with several ponds covering a total of 10ha.

Hung said his company was only authorised to manage and distribute water resources, and could not interfere with the residents' ponds.

Protection and licensing related to the reservoir is the responsibility of the People's Committees of Binh Phuoc and Tay Ninh provinces, where the reservoir is located.

Nguyen Duc Hung, deputy director of HCM City's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should make an assessment of the amount of mud deposits in the reservoir and then dredge the bottom.

This would improve the reservoir's capacity to hold water, which, in turn, would help prevent flooding.

Tran Duy Tien, deputy director of the ministry's Department of Construction Works Management, said he would submit a report to the ministry about the reservoir.

He said the main job was to dredge the reservoir, and then plant trees near the upper part of the reservoir and dredge canals in the city and provinces.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News