VietNamNet Bridge - The Huong Dien hydropower plant unexpectedly discharged water on March 27, flooding a large area located below the plant, and damaging crops.

Hundreds of hectares of winter-spring crop rice fields in Quang Dien District of Thua Thien–Hue Province were inundated by water from the Huong Dien Hydropower Plant.

Ngo Van Quang, deputy chair of the Agriculture Cooperative No 1 in Quang Dien District, said the water appeared at 6-7 am on March 27 and it took only one hour to flood a large area.

“The water level rose so rapidly that we could not respond to the emergency,” he said.

Quang said 80 out of the 180 hectares of rice fields of the cooperative had been inundated by 3 pm on March 27, but the flooded area could be even larger.

Pham Dien, chair of Dong Vinh Cooperative, complained that 100 out of the 300 hectares of rice fields have become “hopeless”. He anticipates a poor crop.

Ngo Van Xa, a farmer in Quang Tho Commune of Quang Dien District, said the hydropower plant was the culprit behind the flooding. 

“The water level was still low at 5 am on the day, but it then rose so quickly that we could not do anything to save the rice fields,” he said, adding that the water capacity at that time was about 1,000 cubic meters per second.

Nguyen Ngoc Tien, head of the district’s agriculture development sub-department, confirmed that the sub-department received a document from the hydropower plant about the water discharge. However, no one could do anything. 

“The dispatch arrived at the district’s agency after the flood had already reached the rice fields,” he said.

Tien estimated that the flood caused losses of VND35 billion. Sia Town, Quang Tho, Quang Phu and Quang Phuoc Communes are the heaviest sufferers from the flood.

Meanwhile, Tran Ngoc Phuoc, 65, in Pho Nam Hamlet, said the damages caused by the flood are even more serious than those from the historic flood in 1999.

“The flood in 1999 did not happen during the crop, but the 2015 flood occurred in the high production season,” he explained.

Phuoc Dien district is not the only locality suffering from the unreasonable water level regulation by hydropower plants.

Experts have many times said that hydropower plants should regulate their water reservoirs in new ways. Hydropower plants are a cause of drought in the dry season when they block water from running to the lower course, and cause floods in the rainy season when they discharge water unexpectedly.

VnMedia