On the morning of June 5, Mr. Duong Thanh Hoa - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ha Tinh - said that the Department had just reported the fish deaths in the Ke Go hydropower area.
Accordingly, on May 29, Nam Ha Tinh Irrigation Company Limited started opening irrigation through Ke Go culvert to provide irrigation water for the production of the Summer-Autumn crop in 2025.
With a discharge flow of about 20 - 21m3/s for agricultural production, Ke Go Hydropower Plant takes advantage of this water source to generate electricity.
From noon on May 31 to 5:00 p.m. on June 1, when dead fish appeared downstream of the water intake, many fish had their heads and tails cut off, the main fish species were mermaids weighing 1 - 2kg/fish (total about 700 - 800kg).
Through inspection, it was found that the fish were newly dead, still fresh, and no signs of dangerous infectious diseases were detected in the fish.
After discovering the dead fish, Nam Ha Tinh Irrigation Company Limited and the people collected and treated them. As of the morning of June 4, there were no more fish deaths in the sewers and downstream areas along the canals.
Notably, on the afternoon of June 1, the management and operation staff of Ke Go Hydropower Joint Stock Company noticed that the water flow had decreased compared to the design, reducing the power generation capacity, so they conducted an inspection.
Through inspection, a fishing net was discovered entangled in the garbage net at the water intake of the Hydropower Plant, so a part of the net, including the fish, was pulled up and caught in the net, and part was swept away by the water.
After about 3 hours of inspection and handling, Ke Go hydropower plant continued to operate normally until now, no more dead fish were discovered as above.
"During the above period, Ke Go Hydropower Plant did not have any repair, maintenance or replacement of equipment. There were no nearby fish deaths or any other unusual phenomena in the reservoir bed, lake shore and surrounding areas, the report stated.
The cause of fish dying and drifting downstream of the sewers to get water is believed to be due to the large amount of fish released into Ke Go Lake in recent years to regenerate aquatic resources (according to the representative of Nam Ha Tinh Irrigation Company Limited, the quantity is very large, up to tens of tons of fish fry).
At the same time, due to the impact of the recent flood of the Southern Dams that caused heavy rain, the lake water was cloudy, causing a herd of fish to move upstream of the culvert to get water.
When the water flows under the sewer to get irrigation water, the flock of fish swept through the mesh of the trash, drifting into the body of the drain, through the twisted chamber to hit the hydroelectric turbine rotor, causing the fish to cut the head, tail, and die behind the drain.
Immediately after discovering the above number of dead fish, officers and workers of Nam Ha Tinh Irrigation Company Limited and the people proceeded to collect and handle them. Nam Ha Tinh Irrigation Company Limited has also deployed a net to prevent fish from being collected on the canal to avoid environmental impact.
Currently, Nam Ha Tinh Irrigation Company Limited continues to monitor and deploy nets to check the situation of fish still floating through the sewers to take further measures (there is no longer a phenomenon).
Currently, the Department of Fisheries of the Department of Agriculture and Environment has taken a fish sample and sent it to the Department of Animal Health of Region III for inspection and testing.
