On the morning of April 23, Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee held a press conference on the socio-economic situation in the first quarter of 2026. At the meeting, the Department of Agriculture and Environment provided information related to Song Than reservoir after the phenomenon of seepage and cracking at the dam body appeared.
At the end of 2025, the Khanh Hoa Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board requested the design consulting unit to urgently review and comprehensively assess the project after detecting unusual signs.
A report from the Department of Agriculture and Environment said that at the top of the dam, some cracks appeared on the surface concrete layer. At the same time, at some locations in the concrete dam body corridor, water seepage was recorded on the side wall.
These shortcomings have been handled and overcome by the construction unit before November 2025. However, to date, the cause of cracking and seepage has not been clarified by the design consulting unit, and there has been no specific assessment.
Through actual inspection with the participation of relevant units, functional agencies determined that the recent remediation was only for short-term situation handling.
To accurately assess the cause, scientific analysis is needed based on many factors such as design documents, construction quality, monitoring results and related data.
Faced with the complexity of the case, Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee has assigned the Department of Agriculture and Environment to urgently hire an independent inspection consulting unit, with sufficient professional capacity and experience, along with the participation of experts to determine the cause and propose thorough handling solutions.
At the same time, the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board is assigned to coordinate with Ninh Thuan Irrigation Works Exploitation One Member Limited Liability Company to continue reviewing and evaluating existing problems, and promptly implement repair measures to ensure the safety of the project during operation.
Up to now, the Department of Agriculture and Environment has completed the development of outlines, tasks and estimates for unexpected safety inspection of Song Than dam, and is also conducting appraisal to serve as a basis for implementing the next steps according to regulations.
In the coming time, this unit will continue to complete the dossier, submit it to the Provincial People's Committee for approval and organize inspection, report the results along with remedial solutions to ensure the safety of the project.
The entire process is expected to be completed before April 30, 2026.
