Bo River lying along Huong Tra District, Thua Thien Hue Province is dying due to drought.
On one side of the river (at Huong Tra District) there are vast sand dunes and on the other side (at Phong Dien District) there is a battle with erosion and landslides. A lot of trucks flock to the sand dunes by passing through the middle of the river now.
Bo River is the second longest one in Thue Thien Hue and has never seen a drought before. However, early this year it has been rapidly drying out and is under threat of losing all water entirely during the rainy season. This unusual incident has negatively influenced the lives of people here.
We can see the drought even more clearly at Team 1, Lai Bang Hamlet, Huong Van Commune, Huong Tra District where there are a lot dry spots in the middle of the river. There is very little water and a lot of sand in the riverbed. This is not how it used to be.
“The river has become gradually drier for the past two months, but recently it has become waterless very quickly. There used to be a lot of fish here but now it’s difficult to find any. I can earn only about VND30,000 ($1.62) per day,” said Vo Van Hoa, a fisherman.
“Since I was born, I have never seen Bo River dry like this. I have heard that the water of the river is reserved to operate the Huong Dien Hydro Power Plant. That’s why it has become so dry,” said Vo Van Thuong, 76.
“My boat’s rudders have been stuck in the river for two weeks. I wait for rain each day to take my rudders out of the sand,” said Vo Van Trong sadly.
Hoping for moisture
Emerging sand dunes have become sites where people come and dredge with many kinds of machines and tools.
Before making our way up the river, Thuong showed me deep blue holes in the riverbed. “They are very deep. It’s the result of sand mining. It’s very dangerous for children to swim,” said Thuong
Trees along the two sides of the river turn to yellow due to water shortage. Wild vegetation has replaced the places where salad and vegetables once grew.
Sand mining site
“You know, this place is very famous for Thanh Tra fruit in Hue. But in recent months, its leaves have become twisted and smaller to where now, there is no fruit. It’s very sad to see fading trees during rainy season. We destroyed many Thanh Tra gardens because of a lack of water,” said Nguyen Khoa Sy, 60.
There is no longer any water in his well or fish pond. People cannot manage to solve this issue because it happened so unexpectedly.
Sy shared with me the same reason of the drought as Thuong told me, many people here do not have enough water to use.
Deep wells but no water
People here are extremely saddened to see the river drying out like this.
Below, some more photos of the changing river:
Bo River used to be big, but now its presence is fading
Trucks running in the middle of the river
Vast sand dunes have stopped the river's flow
Many people think the cause of the drought is the Huong Dien Hydro Power Plant