The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) has just issued a document giving its opinion on the investment policy for the construction of an emergency project to supplement water from the Red River to the To Lich River.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, investing in a project to supplement water from the Red River to the To Lich River is necessary. According to the plan proposed by Hanoi, the To Lich River will be supplemented with water by a pipeline system with a flow rate of 3-5m3/s (equivalent to 260 - 432 thousand m3/day). With the amount of supplemented water, the To Lich River will have a flow rate of 0.075m/s, maintaining the water level on the river from 3.3m to 3.8m.

However, through preliminary calculations, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment believes that to ensure the goal of reviving the To Lich River, it is necessary to add water to the river with a flow rate of about 15-20m3/s, maintaining an average speed on the river of about 0.2-0.3m/s.

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Hanoi is finalizing a plan to revive the To Lich River. Photo: Viet Linh

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said that currently, the Vietnam Institute of Water Resources is researching a plan to restore and connect the To Lich River, West Lake and the Red River through a system of pumping stations and non-pressure canals.

Specifically, the plan of the Institute of Water Resources is to take water from the upstream area of ​​the Red River rock bank (Tay Ho district), about 1.5 km from Nhat Tan bridge, at the position between the two river regulation dykes built by the Ministry of Transport from 1992 to 1997. The items outside the river bank also include a 10-hectare natural settling lake, a channel, and a pumping station with a capacity of 18 m3/s.

River water is led through the dike into West Lake, then through the canal to the sluice gate into To Lich River, about 4km long. On To Lich River, there is a dam downstream of Quang Bridge to raise the water level, create flow, exploit the landscape on both sides of the river, and waterway traffic. The total preliminary investment of the above plan is nearly 496 billion VND, the annual operating cost is about 25 billion VND.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment commented that the plan of the Vietnam Institute of Water Resources has the same total estimated investment and construction time as the proposed plan of Hanoi, but the maximum amount of water that can be added is 18 m3/s.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the above calculation plan of the Institute of Water Resources can meet the goals of restoring water resources, creating landscapes, and maintaining the flow of the To Lich River.

In the document, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment also requested Hanoi to supplement the assessment of the risk of landslides and sedimentation in the Red River area where the water intake of the main pumping station is located to ensure long-term stability of the project and continuous water intake in the condition that the water level of the Red River is increasingly decreasing.

In addition, the city needs to consider additional research on secondary pollution to the To Lich River (due to the Red River's high silt content) and waste at three dams on the river during operation; at the same time, consider and supplement solutions to pre-settle the Red River water before discharging it into the To Lich River.

In addition, the project of bringing water from the Red River to the To Lich River by a D1200mm pressure pipeline along Vo Chi Cong Street with a length of about 5.5km also needs to be studied and have specific solutions to address risks such as damage to underground works during construction; broken and blocked pipes during operation.

Previously, the Hanoi People's Committee agreed on a plan to build a water pipeline from the Red River to the To Lich River along the Vo Chi Cong - Hoang Quoc Viet route. The water pipeline from the dike to the starting point of the To Lich River is about 5.3km long.

The total investment of the project is about 550 billion VND from the city budget. Hanoi commits to complete the project before September 2025.

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