China’s Opening Floodgates Cause Harm to Vietnam: Experts

The opening of floodgates at the upstream of Red river in China’s land will cause harm to the downstream in Vietnam, many Vietnamese experts have said following the water discharge that submerged many parts of the lowland in Vietnam on Oct 11. The governments of Vietnam and China need to stipulate regulations on operating reservoirs and discharging water as well as obligations of the country in the upstream to avoid damage to the country in the downstream, said Nguyen Lan Chau, former deputy director of National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF). Echoing Mr. Chau’s opinion, Prof. Dao Trong Tu, advisor to Vietnam Rivers Network, the country’s largest advocacy group for water resource protection, said that China’s two hydropower plants and 20 water reservoirs in the upstream accounted for 49% of Red river’s water. It requires governmental-level mechanism on information exchange of the operation and discharge. On Sunday [Oct 11], authorities in China’s Yunnan province opened floodgates with the watercourse of 2,500 cubic meters per second (cu.m/s) compared to 1,500 cu.m/s as normal. The water discharge submerged cash crops and many assets in Vietnam’s northern province Lao Cai and made the water level in Red river quickly surged. Vietnamese media said that the discharge was made following heavy rains in Yunnan but the Chinese authorities did not inform the Vietnamese side of the move, said Dang Thanh Mai, deputy director of (NCHMF). The discharge has triggered concerns over safety to people along Red river in Vietnam and damage if Chinese authorities do not inform Vietnamese authorities as they pledged to do. Some major rivers in Vietnam originate from China. (Tuoi Tre - Youth Oct 13, Nguoi Lao Dong – Laborer Oct 13)