There is only one option for using that water, no option 2 or 3 like every year with the forecast of if it rains early or late. Because the key to the problem this year is that the lakes are more abundant than every year.
The engine of progress
That day, despite the influence of a strange tropical depression, which occurred 20 days after the end of the storm and flood, which people had determined to be October 23 of the lunar calendar, the weather in Tuy Phong was only gloomy. That is normal here, the place with the least rain in the country. But in 2023, Tuy Phong did not lack water, the irrigation lakes in the area all stored more water than every year. Up to this season, when the harvest had not been completed and the winter-spring crop of 2023-2024 was about to begin, Da Bac Lake had 7.55 million cubic meters of useful water, Long Song Lake had more than 29.4 million cubic meters. Meanwhile, on the mountain, Phan Dung Lake not only provided production water for about 120 hectares of rice of the Rac Lay people in the commune, but also transferred water downstream to Long Song Lake when needed, the water had accumulated to more than 13.4 million cubic meters of useful water, more than the original design capacity.
Also in 2023, the project to reclaim and renovate fields and the canal system in Phan Dung commune's area A was implemented. In early 2024, Phan Dung had an additional 26.32 hectares for people to produce wet rice, bringing the total area for wet rice cultivation in the commune to 150 hectares. Although it has not reached the 400 hectares according to the irrigation design of Phan Dung lake, the people of Rac Lay are happy with any additional area for growing wet rice. Because every day, people in the commune see abundant water in Phan Dung lake, they see that the land in the commune is still there but cannot be produced, because it is stuck in forest land so they have to wait. Meanwhile, everyone realizes that wet rice production is faster to harvest than dry rice production and has high productivity, so there is no need to worry about hunger and famine. Therefore, the journey of receiving technical advances to grow wet rice over the past years here can be said to have made great strides for the people of Rac Lay themselves. As for the 2022-2023 winter-spring crop, with an area of 133.4 hectares, the whole commune harvested 720 tons of rice, equivalent to a yield of more than 5.4 tons/ha. In the summer-autumn crop, 93 hectares produced 465 tons of rice, or 5 tons/ha, and this crop, with early harvested areas, it showed a yield of 4 tons/ha. It is worth mentioning that it is not only the rice yield but also shows progress. Phan Dung Lake water has contributed to and is the driving force for the above change and continues to apply technical advances here.
Only one option
Tuy Phong, a place that is often short of water, has an abundance of water in 2023, so it is natural that other irrigation reservoirs in the province are all full of water. The largest water reservoir in the northern part of the province is Song Luy Lake in Bac Binh, with the responsibility of transferring water to Long Song Lake (Tuy Phong) and transferring water to Song Quao Lake (Ham Thuan Bac), with a useful capacity of nearly 82 million cubic meters, while at the same time last year there was only nearly 51 million cubic meters of water. As for the lakes in the south of the province, most of them also have a higher useful capacity than at the same time last year.
According to data from Binh Thuan Irrigation Works Exploitation Company Limited, by the end of December 2023, the current useful water volume of irrigation reservoirs was 308.96/363.55 million m³, reaching 84.9% of the design, 21.19 million m³ higher than the same period. Meanwhile, the useful water volume at the two hydroelectric reservoirs was also higher than the same period last year and almost equal to the design capacity. Specifically, Ham Thuan reservoir has a current useful capacity of 521.63 million cubic meters compared to 522.50 of the design capacity, last year's figure was 425.96 million cubic meters. Similarly, Dai Ninh reservoir has 249.71 million cubic meters of current useful water, reaching 99.2% of the design, 32.21 million m³ higher than the same period.
Therefore, the meeting to discuss the dry season water use plan as usual at the end of the year of the agricultural sector was very light, with only one option. Because the result of the water balance calculation after the end of irrigation of the 2023 winter-spring crop, domestic water supply in the 2024 dry season and water supply for dragon fruit trees, the remaining water amount is 883.0 million m³, ensuring water supply for 100% of the production area of the 2023-2024 winter-spring crop, which is 33,016 ha. At the same time, ensuring the entire 2024 dry season. There is only one option for using that water, there is no option 2 or 3 like every year, with the forecast that if the rain ends early or late. Because the key to the problem this year is that the lakes are more abundant than every year.
Moreover, thanks to the abundance of water, the surrounding landscape is greener and more beautiful. It is worth mentioning that in the past, few people knew about this beauty because most of the irrigation works were hidden deep inside, far from the main road. Now, when the two highways are formed, visitors can see a few lakes along the road or open up paths leading to closer lakes. For example, through the Phan Thiet - Dau Giay highway, everyone can see Du Du lake, Ta Mon lake with silvery water lying among the green dragon fruit gardens. Next, following the exit from the highway at Song Phan commune, people can go a little further to Song Phan lake. Here, the mountain and forest scenery is peaceful, Song Phan lake is as calm as a pearl in the middle of the arid region.
Meanwhile, other irrigation lakes have attracted visitors such as Song Luy Lake, Phan Dung Lake, Suoi Da Lake... despite the fact that there is currently no investment in tourism. The exploitation of irrigation lakes for tourism is also being developed in the province with the prospect of a multi-purpose direction. And what happens in 2023 related to water, production, roads, and tourism revolves around irrigation lakes as if by chance.
According to Mr. Nguyen Huu Hue, General Director of Binh Thuan Irrigation Works Exploitation Company Limited, although at the end of this year, most of the irrigation reservoirs in the province have more water than in previous years. However, the risk of drought and water shortage is still likely to occur at independent reservoirs or reservoirs with tasks exceeding the design such as Ta Mon and Nui Dat lakes. Therefore, the company still implements measures to use water economically and effectively.
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