The Vu Gia–Thu Bon river basin, the country’s fourth largest producerof hydropower, is facing a number of environmental issues that pose arisk to major hydropower expansion plans.
The basin stretchesfrom the eastern part of the Truong Son trail to the coastal area aroundDa Nang and the central province of Quang Nam, supplying water for morethan 45,000ha of farmland and close to 2 million residents.
Four major hydropower plants and 820 irrigational facilities, including72 reservoirs, 546 dams and 202 pumping stations, have been built in theVu Gia – Thu Bon river basin so far. By 2020, 10 hydropower plants togenerate 1,200MW of electricity are planned to be built in the basin,experts from the Vietnam National University in Hanoi told a recentconsultation workshop in the central city of Da Nang.
However,the basin itself and the Quang Nam-Da Nang coastal area are affected byoverpopulation and rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, which haveresulted in environmental pollution and ecosystem degradation.
Climate change impacts, such as draughts and floods, as well asdeforestation and illegal mineral and sand mining have altered the flowof the river, posing a risk of salt-water intrusion that could harmlocal livelihoods, they warned.
Dao Trong Tu, Director of theConsulting Centre for Sustainable Development of Water Resources andClimate Change Adaptation, called for a delay in the construction of newhydropower plants to conduct more feasibility studies.
He suggested devising post-resettlement support policies and a comprehensive master plan for the basin.
The workshop was co-hosted by the International Union forConservation of Nature and the Hanns Seidel Stiftung, a German politicalfoundation, as part of the Mangroves for the Future initiative.-VNA
The basin stretchesfrom the eastern part of the Truong Son trail to the coastal area aroundDa Nang and the central province of Quang Nam, supplying water for morethan 45,000ha of farmland and close to 2 million residents.
Four major hydropower plants and 820 irrigational facilities, including72 reservoirs, 546 dams and 202 pumping stations, have been built in theVu Gia – Thu Bon river basin so far. By 2020, 10 hydropower plants togenerate 1,200MW of electricity are planned to be built in the basin,experts from the Vietnam National University in Hanoi told a recentconsultation workshop in the central city of Da Nang.
However,the basin itself and the Quang Nam-Da Nang coastal area are affected byoverpopulation and rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, which haveresulted in environmental pollution and ecosystem degradation.
Climate change impacts, such as draughts and floods, as well asdeforestation and illegal mineral and sand mining have altered the flowof the river, posing a risk of salt-water intrusion that could harmlocal livelihoods, they warned.
Dao Trong Tu, Director of theConsulting Centre for Sustainable Development of Water Resources andClimate Change Adaptation, called for a delay in the construction of newhydropower plants to conduct more feasibility studies.
He suggested devising post-resettlement support policies and a comprehensive master plan for the basin.
The workshop was co-hosted by the International Union forConservation of Nature and the Hanns Seidel Stiftung, a German politicalfoundation, as part of the Mangroves for the Future initiative.-VNA
