On the morning of April 16, in Muong La district, Son La province, the Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Son La province and the Office of...JICAVietnam co-organized the inauguration ceremony of the Sabo pilot dam in the Nam Pam basin.

This is the first Sabo dam project to be built in Vietnam, within the scope of the Technical Cooperation Project on Capacity Building for Risk Reduction.flash floods and landslidesin the Northern Mountainous Region (Project) funded by JICA.

Sabo Dam is an engineering solution that has been applied very effectively in Japan and many countries around the world, often built in the upstream of rivers with steep slopes and high flow rates; helping to retain mud, rocks, driftwood and prevent damage in downstream areas.

Delegates cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Sabo dam in the Nam Pam basin. (Photo: THE DOAN)

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Truong Son, Deputy Director of the Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, said that the Sabo dam project in the Nam Pam stream basin, Muong La district can be considered a "visual model", a pilot project designed and built according to Japanese standards.

This project is expected to be effective, contributing to the protection of 28 households, 1 kindergarten, 1 cultural house on the left bank downstream of the dam. However, according to Mr. Son, because it is only a pilot dam, built individually on a small scale, it is certain that this Sabo dam will not be able to fully promote its effectiveness.

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has proposed that the Japanese Government continue to support Vietnam in synchronously building the Sabo dam system on the Nam Pam stream basin. This dam system can become a model for Vietnam to evaluate its effectiveness, thereby considering and mobilizing resources to invest in replicating the Sabo dam project in other areas with similar risks," said Deputy Director Nguyen Truong Son.

Mr. Kobayashi Yosuke, Chief Representative of JICA in Vietnam and Mr. Nguyen Truong Son, Deputy Director of the Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, pull up the information board of Sabo Dam. (Photo: THE DOAN)

Mr. Kobayashi Yosuke, Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam, emphasized that the inauguration ceremony of Sabo Dam today marks a new milestone in cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in reducing the risk of landslides and flash floods.

Considering that a single Sabo dam cannot effectively reduce mudflows, Mr. Yosuke hopes that the pilot dam construction in Son La province will serve as a reference for the Vietnamese Government to develop technical standards for the construction of Sabo dams in the Nam Pam basin and other high-risk areas.

According to experts' reports, Son La is one of the provinces that suffered the most damage among the 14 northern mountainous provinces from 2007 to 2020. In particular, flash floods and landslides in 2017 and 2024 caused a lot of damage to both people and property in the area. Therefore, Son La was selected by JICA as one of the key provinces to implement the pilot activities of the Project.

Scene after flash flood in Nam Pam, Muong La, Son La in 2017.

Construction of the Sabo Dam in the Nam Pam stream basin began in September 2024 after the rainy season in Son La province, and was completed after nearly 7 months of construction with a total cost of about 55 million yen (nearly 10 billion VND). The dam was built according to Japanese standards, a concrete dam with a length of 61m, a width of 3m at the top of the dam, and a height of 9m.

The construction process includes foundation condition verification, excavation, concrete placement, slope protection, and backfilling. The quality of the dam is controlled through continuous slump tests and concrete strength testing at the construction site.

Ms. Le Thi Thu Hang, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Son La province, said that the pilot construction of the project solution (Sabo dam) is extremely important, marking a new step forward in the work of preventing and fighting natural disasters, protecting the lives and property of the people of Son La province.

After the project is completed, the Department of Agriculture and Environment will preside over and coordinate with relevant professional agencies to organize the reception of assets resulting from the project; arrange human resources and funding to manage, exploit, operate, maintain and repair the project.

To control mudflows more effectively in the Nam Pam basin, the Department of Agriculture and Environment proposes that the Government of Japan and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment pay attention to investing in completing 12 dams as planned in Output 3 of the Project. At the same time, develop standards, procedures, and regulations for the construction of the Sabo dam in Vietnam.