Long-term solutions for urban flooding prevention

Flooding on Nguyễn Trãi Road in Ninh Kiều District, Cần Thơ City. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Liêm

HCM CITY — Flooding in urban areas of many provinces and cities in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta is becoming increasingly serious, affecting socio-economic activities, especially traffic, business, environmental sanitation and the urban landscape.

Localities are strengthening measures to prevent flooding to promote sustainable urban beautification.

Inundation

The Cần Thơ Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that every year during the rainy season, from August to November of the lunar calendar, many areas in the city were flooded up an average of a metre in depth.

But over the past two decades, Cần Thơ City has experienced 14 years with high tides of over two metres. In the last nine consecutive years, the tides have been over two metres and in 2022, reached 2.27m.

Flooding due to high tides is increasing due to more rainfall and subsidence.

In Cà Mau Province, the provincial hydro-meteorological station reported that this year, the rainy season will have higher rainfall than the average of previous years.

Head of the Cà Mau City Urban Management Division Nguyễn Trường Giang said that the city’s drainage system had been built a long time ago and had now deteriorated leading to inundation in different roads including Phan Ngọc Hiển, Ngô Quyền, Nguyễn Trãi, Trần Hưng Đạo, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu and Bùi Thị Trường.

Rạch Giá City in Kiên Giang Province had also seen very slow drainage.

Chairman of Kiên Giang People’s Committee Lâm Minh Thành said that in recent years, the province had heavy and prolonged rain with an average rainfall of 50-80mm and lasting for 30 minutes or more.

Flooding occurred in Rạch Giá and Phú Quốc cities.

According to experts, flooding is due to the old and degraded drainage infrastructure system, natural disasters and climate change.

In addition, it has been caused by limited management, especially related to environmental sanitation, dredging and clearing sewers before the rainy season. Experts also pointed out that the situation was caused by weak planning and infrastructure investment management.

In addition, some people’s awareness is not high, dumping garbage in the wrong place, blocking water intakes and manholes and narrowing the banks of canals and drainage ditches, obstructing the flow.

Solutions

According to Nguyễn Nghĩa Hùng, Deputy Director of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, to reduce widespread flooding in Cần Thơ City, as well as providing water for Kiên Giang and Hậu Giang regions in the dry season, it is necessary to invest in additional sluice gates on the main canals connecting to the Hậu River.

The tidal control sluice gates along the Hậu and Cần Thơ rivers will help reduce flooding in inner Cần Thơ City, while promoting the storage of fresh water.

To completely solve flooding, even due to rain, it is necessary to complete the embankment along the Cần Thơ River, the drainage system and the rain pumping station.

Cần Thơ City also proposed the project ‘Flood and landslide prevention, climate change adaptation combined with urban beautification’.

The project has a total investment of more than VNĐ4.5 trillion (US$179.1 million) from the central budget, implemented in Ninh Kiều and Bình Thủy districts in the period of 2024-30.

Director of the Cần Thơ Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Văn Sử said that the project’s goal was to prevent flooding in nearly 2,800ha in the inner city.

It would build embankments with a total length of nearly 9km along rivers and canals, build a combined sluice gate and pumping station, 11 control sluices and upgrade roads along the embankment.

Cà Mau City is prioritising investments to upgrade roads and renovate and clean drainage systems along roads that are frequently flooded due to high tides to avoid affecting people’s travel and daily activities.

Nguyễn Trường Giang, Head of the Cà Mau City Urban Management Division, said that the annual budget requirement for upgrading roads and drainage systems was very large.

This was a difficulty in preventing and combating flooding in the city.

Therefore, to have a long-term solution in the coming time, the city would take advantage of different sources of support to invest in roads.

Deputy Chairman of the Kiên Giang People’s Committee Nguyễn Thanh Nhàn requested the Rạch Giá City to strengthen management on drainage systems and immediately inspect electrical systems, manholes and dredge sewers, with priority given to main drainage sewers.

The Rạch Giá City Division of Transport will work with the city authorities to renovate the drainage system on Nguyễn Trung Trực Street and 3/2 Street, along with expanding and upgrading the road surface to serve travel in the coming time.

The Kiên Giang People’s Committee has allocated about VNĐ70 billion ($2.7 million) to upgrade the riverside dike downstream of Cái Lớn and Cái Bé sluices to soon reduce flooding in this area. — VNS