Prolonged heat, many rivers and lakes dry up and grass grows wild

Due to the prolonged hot weather in recent days, there has been no water supply, causing Trung Van Lake (Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi) to dry up and be overgrown with grass and trees.

Trung Van Lake was renovated, dredged, built embankments, planted trees, installed lighting systems, built walkways, built sewer systems, etc. from 2013-2014 to serve the people. However, this lake is now at risk of becoming a "dead" lake due to the effects of a prolonged heat wave, low rainfall and no water supply.

Although Hanoi has recently experienced many heavy rains, Trung Van Lake is still dry.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thang (in Trung Van, Nam Tu Liem) said: "For about this year, there has been no water at Trung Van lake, the grass has grown wildly, and now there are grasses taller than a person's head."

Prolonged heat, little rain, Trung Van regulating lake is dry

The boat is rusty because there is no water here for a long time.

Similarly, the lake in Bach Thao Park (Ba Dinh, Hanoi) is almost dry, many areas can see the bottom, the ground is cracked, places with water have become stagnant ponds, very unsightly and affecting environmental hygiene.

The representative of the Botanical Park explained that due to the prolonged hot weather and little rain, the lake water gradually evaporated.

"The lake dried up to the point of exposing the bottom and lasted for several months. This phenomenon has never happened before. When the lake dries up like this, the park staff has a hard time because they have to do more environmental sanitation work and ensure the minimum landscape in the park," said Mr. Ngo Vinh, an administrative officer of Bach Thao Park.

The situation of the lake drying up and exposing the bottom has been going on for nearly 2 months now.

Both lakes in the park are covered with trash, ruining the urban beauty.

At the Da River, through Dong Trung Commune, Thanh Thuy District, Phu Tho, the river's flow has narrowed, leaving sand dunes hundreds of meters long.

On the river section across Trung Ha bridge (connecting Phu Tho and Hanoi), some boats were 'stranded'.

Currently, the Son La Hydropower Reservoir section through Muong Lay town has dried up, stretching for dozens of kilometers.

Mr. Nguyen Van Huong, Head of Weather Forecasting Department, National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said that up to now, the total flow on rivers in the Northern region is 40 - 80% lower than the average of many years.

Of which, the flow on Thao River is the most deficient, over 90%. The flow to large reservoirs in the Northern region is deficient from 55-75% compared to the average.

Compared to the same period in 2022, the total capacity of 5 large reservoirs belonging to the Red River reservoir network (Lai Chau, Son La, Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quang, Thac Ba) is about 7.476 billion m3 lower.

“Low rainfall and early heat waves have reduced the flow to the reservoirs. Water levels in many large reservoirs in the Northern region are very low. This affects the power generation capacity of hydropower plants.

In the coming time, the North is preparing to receive a large-scale heavy rain from June 12-15.

"With the upcoming rains, the drought situation in the Northern region as well as hydroelectric reservoirs in the North after June 15 is likely to improve," Mr. Huong informed.

Source