Ha Nha commune, Da Nang city is a locality located in the downstream area of the Vu Gia River. Therefore, the flood at the end of 2025 caused the water level to rise above alarm level III from 0.8m to more than 2.0m, causing damage to this locality estimated at over 153 billion VND. From the reality of "flood upon flood", at the Civil Defense Work Summary Conference held on March 17, representatives of Ha Nha commune proposed: "The city needs to propose to the Government to adjust the 1865 Procedure. When extreme heavy rain is forecast, it must be allowed for hydropower plants to lower the reservoir water level below the current lowest regulated water level to create a'vacuum bag' to cut floods for downstream areas".
Meanwhile, in the upstream area, Tay Giang Commune People's Committee - which suffered damage of more than 130 billion VND due to landslides and flash floods in the past year - also expressed concern about the planning of factories. Tay Giang commune proposed that the city should review the entire medium and small hydropower network, resolutely eliminate projects that infringe on upstream forest land. According to this locality, keeping forests is the most important natural barrier to prevent flash floods and landslides.
According to analysis from the Faculty of Waterway Construction (Da Nang University of Science and Technology), in the historic flood in October 2025, although reservoirs made efforts to discharge first, in reality, only 8% to 18% of the total flood volume to the reservoir in the early stages was reduced.
Since the second flood peak, most reservoirs have been full and forced to switch to emergency discharge mode with a flow rate almost equal to the water flow into the reservoir. Experts affirm that the current flood prevention capacity of the inter-reservoir system is too small compared to extreme rain and floods. To solve this problem, Da Nang needs to soon apply "Digital Twins" technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate current flow in real time, supporting more accurate operating decisions.
Regarding this issue, the leaders of Da Nang City People's Committee have requested the Department of Agriculture and Environment to urgently coordinate research to propose amending the 1865 Procedure in a more flexible direction.
The goal for 2026 is not to be passive or surprised. Hydropower plants must participate in flood cutting in a substantive and scientific way. Units must strictly control flood drainage corridors and promote the application of technology so that all flood discharge scenarios are warned early to each household in downstream areas" - the leader of Da Nang City said.
