At around 3am on November 14, at Ia Ring reservoir (Chu Se district), a water leak occurred in the dam body right next to the water intake culvert. By 7am the same day, the leak had expanded to about 6m2, causing water to flow into the culvert corridor and then downstream, flooding the downstream area.

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The upstream location of the dam body is leaking. Photo: Tran Hoan

Upon receiving the news, leaders of Chu Se district and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Gia Lai province were present, directing military units, police, and authorities of communes surrounding Ia Ring reservoir to urgently mobilize forces and vehicles to the rescue.

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Water flows into the sewer corridor and then flows towards the downstream outlet. Photo: Tran Hoan

Authorities have urgently deployed remedial measures. Dozens of stone baskets, sandbags, along with hundreds of blocks of rubble were poured into the leaking area.

Along with on-site handling measures, authorities have also opened the spillway gates to reduce pressure on the dam body, lowering the water level below the leaking area, to avoid the risk of the incident spreading.

According to the leader of Ia Tiem commune, by around 12:30 pm the same day, the leak had been basically controlled, and the rescue forces took a break to have lunch on the spot. However, just 30 minutes later, the situation became tense when all the stone baskets, sandbags and boulders collapsed, washed into the hole in the dam body. The rescue forces did not have time to have lunch, and had to urgently continue to implement measures to overcome the consequences and prevent the incident from recurring.

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About 200 cubic meters of rubble were used to fill the leak. Photo: Tran Hoan

According to the leader of Ia Tiem commune, to fix the leak at the Ia Ring lake dam, the rescue team used about 200m3 of rubble and 1 truck of sand to fill in the leaking area.

The initial cause was determined to be a leak in the main water intake corridor, causing water from the reservoir to flow down the corridor, through the leak, causing the ground to collapse and washing away 4 reinforced concrete slabs of the upstream roof, with an area of ​​about 6 square meters. The depth of the leak was estimated at about 19 meters, from an elevation of 688.5 meters.

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Working all afternoon carrying rocks and sand to handle the incident at the dam. Photo: Tran Hoan

By 3:30 p.m. the same day, the incident had been basically resolved, and there was no water leakage. Authorities continued to monitor developments and handle the situation thoroughly.

It is known that Ia Ring reservoir has a capacity of more than 10 million m3 of water, serving the designed irrigation area of ​​2,300 hectares. In addition, the reservoir also provides domestic water for 18,000 households in Chu Se district.