Research on applying artificial intelligence AI to ensure safety of lakes and dams

On November 19, Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper in collaboration with the Department of Irrigation, the Institute of Irrigation Planning and the Vietnam Association of Large Dams and Water Resources Development organized the Forum "Improving the effectiveness of information and warning, ensuring safe operation of dams and reservoirs in the new situation".

Risk of insecurity

According to statistics from the Department of Irrigation (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), the country currently has 7,315 dams and irrigation reservoirs (592 dams, 6,723 reservoirs) with a total storage capacity of about 15.2 billion ^m3 .

Lakes and irrigation dams shoulder many important tasks such as providing water for agricultural, industrial and domestic production, combined with flood reduction and reduction; serving multiple purposes such as supplying water for power generation, creating space for solar power development, aquaculture, tourism development, etc.

However, Vietnam's system of reservoirs and irrigation dams is currently facing a series of challenges. Director of the Institute of Water Resources Planning Do Van Thanh assessed that many dams and reservoirs in our country have been built for over 30 years, and have suffered damage, deterioration, and sedimentation. Many reservoirs have been converted to serve multiple purposes, requiring recalculation of tasks and design parameters.

According to Mr. Do Van Thanh, flood maps have been built for some large lakes but their downstream flood discharge capacity has not been assessed; many small reservoirs do not have plans to ensure dam safety and prevent downstream floods...

Some experts also acknowledge that the flood discharge corridors downstream of some large reservoirs are currently being encroached upon, the flow is narrowing, not ensuring the designed flood discharge, causing flooding downstream when operating to discharge floodwaters. Meanwhile, the work of forecasting and warning about rain, floods, and water sources to reservoirs and dams still has many limitations...

Lake and dam safety - urgent task

Throughout the country's development, the issue of dam and reservoir safety has always received the attention and leadership of the Party and State, achieving many positive results, basically meeting the requirements of socio-economic development, ensuring national defense, security, and people's lives and activities.

However, the work of ensuring the safety of dams and reservoirs still shows many limitations. This was clearly shown after the recent storm No. 3. Therefore, ensuring the safe operation of dams and reservoirs in the new situation is an important and urgent task.

Deputy Director of the Department of Irrigation (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) Luong Van Anh shared at the forum.

Faced with the above challenges, in the current new situation, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang - Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Large Dams and Water Resources Development said that there needs to be synchronous solutions for policy development and improvement.

The key task is to review and complete the system of technical standards, regulations, and technical and economic norms for surveying, designing, constructing, and managing the operation of dams and reservoirs in accordance with the new situation. Promote the application of new technologies such as automatic monitoring systems and tools to support operational decision-making, etc.

Regarding solutions to ensure the safety of reservoirs and irrigation dams in the new situation, Deputy Director of the Department of Irrigation Luong Van Anh said that one of the key tasks that need to be prioritized is to improve information, warning and forecasting capacity, and build monitoring systems in upstream areas and reservoirs to support hydrological analysis.

“Building support tools, applying technical advances and AI in decision-making in dam and reservoir operations is necessary to proactively forecast and warn of water resources and propose appropriate flood cutting and discharge scenarios, ensuring safety for irrigation works and downstream areas…” - Mr. Luong Van Anh emphasized.

At the forum, many opinions and presentations from managers, scientists, experts and businesses proposed practical solutions to help reduce risks and ensure water safety for irrigation projects nationwide. Thereby affirming the important role of information and early warning in protecting people's lives and property against the challenges of climate change and natural disasters.

“To ensure the safety of reservoirs and irrigation dams, the solution is to improve the quality of real-time water flow calculations to have a suitable and optimal plan for operating and regulating water levels of the works and minimizing risks…” - Mr. Ha Ngoc Tuan , representative of the KIV - Waterplus joint venture.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/nghien-cuu-ung-dung-tri-tue-nhan-tao-ai-vao-bao-dam-an-toan-ho-dap.html