Hoan Kiem lake dredgers aim to safeguard its ancient turtle

Around 1000sq.m of Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake will be dredged for the first time using modern equipment in mid-November.
The area between the Ngoc Son Temple and the Thuy Ta café will be dredged in the trial. Mud dredging will be conducted around 10m from the bank, using mud dredging technology from Germany.
Experts will observe and assess this trial dredging before considering using it for the entire lake. This technology was recently successfully used for the fish pond at President Ho Chi Minh’s Presidential Palace.
Associate professor Ha Dinh Duc, chairman of the dredging project, said the sediment mud layer in the Hoan Kiem Lake is getting thick. The depth of the lake now ranges from only 30-40cm to 1.4m. If it is not dredged, the symbolic lake may soon become a swamp.
The most important consideration is the living environment for the ancient turtle.
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Duc said that the total volume of mud that to be dredged is 300cu.m so the lake will lose around 100cu.m of water only so it is unnecessary to add more water to the lake.
The Hoan Kiem Lake was dredged manually twice in 1993 and 1994.