On 3 September, Da Nang’s Red Bridge River once again began suffering from severe salt-water contamination.

Between 7 and 8 September, the water level at the Ai Nghia Gauging Station in Quang Nam Province’s Dai Loc District was only 2.4m.  The main reasons for the low water are that the volume of rainfall has been low and the hydropower plants on the upper section of the Vu Gia River have not discharged sufficient water into the river’s lower sections. 

Meanwhile, the water level in the city’s An Trach dam is also low at just 1.7m because 2 of the dam’s sluice gates have been opened to discharge water into the Red Bridge River.  Despite this measure, the salinity of the Red Bridge River has risen to 800mg/l.

A severe shortage of water at the sluice gates

To deal with the problem, the An Trach Pumping Station is now operating at full capacity to provide tap water for the city’s Red Bridge and International Airport water supply plants.  This will help to ensure sufficient water for local residents’ daily lives, agriculture and industrial production.

Representatives of the Da Nang Irrigation Exploitation and Management Company have suggested that Quang Nam Province’s authorities should close all the sluice gates of its Bau Nit and Thanh Quyt dams in order to ensure a higher water level in the An Trach dam.  This will allow the An Trach Pumping Station to open more of its sluice gates to resolve the salinity of the Red Bridge River.