In the misty mist of the vast Tuyen Quang hydroelectric reservoir, Mr. Chuc Van Lieu, Khuan Ha commune (Lam Binh district) and his small motorboat are still diligently casting their nets to make a living - a job he has been doing regularly for more than ten years.
Mr. Liu is a resettlement migrant from the hydroelectric plant. After a few years in the new place, with little productive land, Mr. Liu, who is used to working on the river, returned to the lake. The makeshift wooden raft on a corner of the lake has been the old couple's home for nearly ten years.
"The houses and land in the resettlement area are still locked, I only come back occasionally. Although there is no electricity or phone signal here, it is easy to live, I can catch shrimp and fish, and earn a few hundred thousand a day, which is enough to live. It's the end of the year, so I'm trying to earn a little extra to have a full Tet," said Mr. Liu.
Traveling along the tens of kilometers upstream of Gam River and Nang River, it is not difficult to see temporary houses made of bamboo and wood floating on Tuyen Quang Hydroelectric Reservoir. That is the place of residence and livelihood of hundreds of people.
There are also households that have a comfortable life thanks to fishing and aquaculture. Ban Thi Lanh and her husband left their house in the Hoang Khai resettlement area (Yen Son district) to move to the hydroelectric reservoir to raise fish in cages, earning more than 100 million VND per year.
Mr. Chung shared: "It's sad, in this deep place, I can't see a soul, but I've gotten used to it. Raising fish in cages, catching more wild shrimp and fish, the income is stable, I have money to send my children to school. My wife and I will be home this Tet."
In 2006, Tuyen Quang Hydropower Plant officially blocked the flow and stored water, creating a water surface area of more than 8,000 hectares along with aquatic resources, creating livelihoods for hundreds of households in the reservoir area of Na Hang and Lam Binh districts.
According to statistics from the Na Hang district agricultural sector, there are nearly 1,300 fish cages with more than 100 households raising fish in the Tuyen Quang hydroelectric reservoir. In September 2024, due to the impact of storm No. 3, many cages were swept away and damaged. Up to now, aquaculture activities have stabilized again.
Mr. Vi Ngoc Quy - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Na Hang district said that aquaculture and fishing on the lake have become an important livelihood for many households. The output in 2024 is estimated to reach more than 2,330 tons.
"To protect aquatic resources, authorities regularly propagate so that people do not use prohibited tools and substances in fishing and exploitation," Mr. Quy informed.
Tuyen Quang Hydropower Plant was built in late 2002 and officially inaugurated and connected to the national grid in 2008. The large reservoir area stretches over 8,000 hectares on the upper reaches of Gam River and Nang River.
With 3 units, total capacity of 342 MW, this is the 5th largest hydroelectric project in the North to date, with an average annual electricity output of nearly 1.3 billion kWh.
