At 5:00 p.m. on March 23, the highest salinity level recorded at the Cau Do (Red Bridge) Water Supply Plant’s raw water intake on the Cam Le River was 373mg/l. The Cam Le River has severely affected by the intrusion of saline water in the past few days althrough water levels upstream of An Trach Dam on the Yen River have been recorded reaching more than 2.2m.

Salinity level of 325mg/l was observed on the Cam Le River at 2:15p.m. on Thursday while the water levels at An Trach Damp were 2.44m.

As per request from Da Nang, the Quang Nam Province Government has agreed with the building of a 31.5m long, 6m wide temporary water dam with sandbags to height of 3.2m on the Quang Hue River which runs through the province’s Dai Loc District, in order to help reduce in the salinity levels of the Cau Do (Red Bridge) River.

However, the results from the Quang Hue River survey conducted on Thursday morning by the Da Nang Water Supply Company (DAWACO) showed that the water levels on this river at the embankment site remained high and water was flowing faster than normal.

In its efforts to secure fresh water supply for the city, DAWACO has already operated An Trach anti-salinity Pumping Station to supply safe water source to Cau Do Water plant as the Cam Le River has been seriously contaminated with salinity. In addition, the heed has been paid to accelerating preparations for soonest building of temporary water dam on the Quang Hue River.

The company has asked for reasonable adjustments to operating regime of A Vuong and Song Bung 4 hydropower plants in order to lower water levels on the Quang Hue River to enable the building of the temporary water dam to be carried out as soon as possible.

The building of the temporary water dam is really necessary as Da Nang sometimes face significant risk of severe drought, salinity intrusion and water shortage, especially during the peak period of summer season.

Such a dam aims to increase the water flow discharged into the Vu Gia River, contributing to ensuring water supplies for pumping stations of Dai Loc and Dien Ban areas of Quang Nam Province, and reduce saline intrusion at the Cau Do Water Plant’s raw water intake.

Also, the dam helps ensure that the majority of the water sourced from the Vu Gia River will be released into the Yen River where the Da Nang’s An Trach Dam is located. DAWACO has taken the initiative to source water from the An Trach Dam to ensure the delivery of adequate tap water for homes and businesses across the city.

Reporting by NAM TRAN – Translating by H.L