On the afternoon of December 9, the leader of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Khanh Hoa province said that he would request the Khanh Hoa Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board to report the phenomenon of leakage and cracking in the dam body of Song Than reservoir in Anh Dung commune (old Ninh Thuan).
Previously, the Khanh Hoa Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board requested the design consultant unit to urgently review and comprehensively assess the Song Coan reservoir after detecting the phenomenon of leakage and cracking in the dam body.
The inspection aims to ensure the safety of lakes, dams and downstream areas, while clarifying the causes and remedial solutions.
The investor has received a report from the operating unit and has requested an early technical conclusion, and supervised the repair work.
Song Than Reservoir is invested by Khanh Hoa Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board, with a total capacity of 85 million m3.
The project started in 2018, with a total investment of more than 1,040 billion VND, drawn from government bonds, central budget capital and local budget.
The project was inaugurated in September 2025, on the occasion of the celebration of the 1st Khanh Hoa Provincial Congress of Delegates, term 2025-2030.
According to the report of the operator unit - Ninh Thuan Irrigation Works Exploitation Company Limited, Song Than Lake has been conditionally accepted and put into temporary operation since the end of June 2025.
By the end of October 2025, the company discovered that the main dam body had many leaks in the construction joints, concrete joints and adjacent locations between the concrete and the drainage PVC plastic pipes.
Among them, there are five locations flowing into the stream; one location has a strong absorption of about 0.3 liters/s, causing the dam body corridor to always be moist and the water to flow in large quantities.
When the construction units had not completed the repair work, in early November 2025, the operating unit continued to discover concrete cracks along the dam surface at six locations with a total length of 92.4 m; the crack width measured was from 5 mm to 40 mm.
Faced with the above reality, Ninh Thuan Irrigation Works Exploitation Company has requested the investor to urgently organize inspections, assess phenomena and take timely handling measures to ensure safety for the project and downstream.
The image of the crack on the dam body has also been spread by people on social networks, causing concern in the community.
The Project Management Board said that it will coordinate with the design consultant, construction unit and independent experts to determine the cause, level of impact and propose a comprehensive treatment plan.
The investor also requested the construction units to urgently overcome the shortcomings mentioned in the proposal of the operating unit.
In terms of function, Song Than reservoir is designed to serve irrigation of about 3,500 hectares of the southern area (old administrative unit) of Ninh Thuan province and serve Lanh Ra reservoir.
Regarding the next development plan, the investor plans to invest in a pipeline system to supply water from Song Than lake to Ca Na area and Ca Na industrial park.
