The water level of the Hong (Red) River, the country’s second biggest river has reached its lowest recorded level for a century, leaving more than 200 vessels stranded and threatening farming production, warned authorities.
According to Nguyen Lan Chau, the National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecasting’s deputy director, the water level fell to only 1.22m on Dec. 2.
“It is forecasted to drop to under 1m in the next two months if water is not released from three hydro-electricity reservoirs based at Hoa Binh, Thac Ba and Tuyen Quang,” Chau said.
With vessels beached and left idle, fishermen are suffering losses, according to the Waterway Management Company No 6’s Technical Department director Le Van Luong.
Reports from the three reservoirs showed that the Hoa Binh reservoir lacks over 1 billion cu.m of water, Tuyen Quang lacks 977 million cu.m and Thac Ba reservoir, 1.2 billion cu.m, to reach their required levels.
According to Irrigation Department representative Dang Duy Hien, about 100,000ha of agricultural land in the northern region and 30,000ha in Hanoi may face water shortages if 500 million cubic metre of water is not supplied.
To deal with the situation, the municipal People’s Committee has urged local authorities to develop drought prevention plans.
The committee chairman, Nguyen The Thao has required localities to operate pumping machines at stations in the Da, Hong, Nhue and Duong rivers to store enough water in reservoirs.
Thao stressed that farmers should actively store water from lakes, rivers, and lowland areas for their crops and change to crops that need less water in the worst case.
He also required localities in mountainous areas to set up a proper plan to supply water for people in their daily life.