On February 5th, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lam Dong province issued a document requesting the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to confirm the degraded condition of the Xuan Huong Lake scenic relic (Xuan Huong ward - Da Lat).
This is to complete the procedures according to regulations to establish a project to repair and restore the relic. According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lam Dong, in 1919, the French began building the first dam (from the Thuy Ta area to the current Dinh Tien Hoang - Tran Quoc Toan intersection), blocking the Cam Ly stream to form an artificial lake.
In 1923, the Da Lat government built another dam downstream (the location of Ong Dao dam today), forming two separate lakes. However, by 1932, due to the impact of a storm, both dams were broken.
In the period 1934–1935, the Da Lat government rebuilt a large solid stone dam, creating the Ong Dao dam, which existed until 1998 and was renovated. In 1953, the lake was renamed from Grand Lac to Xuan Huong Lake.
In 1988, Xuan Huong Lake was recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) as a national scenic relic.
This is one of the first relics of Lam Dong province to be ranked, with great value in terms of landscape, cultural heritage and is a symbol of Da Lat.
Lam Dong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that the landscape and infrastructure around Xuan Huong Lake have been renovated and embellished many times.
The embankment line protecting the lake was built in 1998, with a total length of 5,120m and 510m of embankment around Thuy Ta and Bich Cau islands. The embankment structure is mainly made of vertical wall-shaped stone and slope-shaped reinforced concrete.
In 2010, the embankment was repaired, reinforced with the base according to the old structure and the top of the embankment was renewed with perforated concrete bricks.
However, since 2010, the embankment has had to be reinforced many times due to erosion, but the repair is mainly carried out in flooded conditions, temporary, so the stability is not high.
According to the Lam Dong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, due to the impact of climate change and extreme rain and floods, the embankment and taluy along the Xuan Huong Lake bank are currently damaged and subsided in many locations.
The top of the dyke made of concrete bricks with holes is damaged, with subsidence, gaps, and sloping roof collapses, affecting the safety of the project and the lake landscape.
On January 21, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lam Dong received a report from the Da Lat Regional Construction Investment Project Management Board on issues related to Xuan Huong Lake relic.
In which, the Project Management Board proposed plans to upgrade and repair the degraded embankment, with a total estimated cost of more than 100 billion VND.
