Illustrative image (Photo: Hung Vo/Vietnamplus) Hanoi (VNA) - "Accelerate Change" is the theme of this year’s World Water Day 2023. Vietnam is strongly responding to the day to create changes in the protection, regulation and allocation of water resources in a fair and reasonable manner.
This is also an opportunity to call on the community to jointly implement action programmes to improve and restore a series of rivers and river sections that have been degraded and polluted.
The idea is to exploit and use water economically and efficiently in association with protection and sustainable development of water resources to meet water demand in daily use, socioeconomic development, ensure national defense, security, and environment protection.
“Water is an asset that must be protected”.
In recent years, Vietnam's water resources are facing a range of challenges, including water shortages, uneven distribution of water in space and time, conflicts in water use in river basins and low access to safe clean water.
The Politburo has issued Conclusion No. 36-KL/TW on ensuring water security and safety of dams and reservoirs by 2030, with a vision to 2045.
The Government also strengthened activities towards ensuring water source security, renovating and restoring degraded and polluted rivers, as well as exploiting and using water economically and efficiently.
Particularly, the Government promulgated the National Water Resources Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050. Along with that is the General Planning of the Red River - Thai Binh River Area and the Integrated Mekong River Area Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050.
Illustrative image (Photo: Hung Vo/Vietnamplus) To achieve the goals, Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Deputy General Director of the National Centre for Water Resources Planning and Investigation, said that in the coming time, planning needs to be implemented with both structural and non-structural solutions.
Accordingly, the structural solutions (improvement of the system of key works) include the Van Coc sluice gate, and the Day Dam and deep dredging of the entire river bed of the Day river. Solutions also include building the Van Coc sluice gate to replace the old Van Coc and Day Dam sluice gates, and dredging the Day river from Van Coc to Phu Ly. A feasibility study of supplying the Day River from Tich River through the San - Thuy Duc drainage canal with a flow of about 20 cubic metre per second is also in the works.
Non-structural solutions include controlling waste sources, preventing pollution and degradation of water sources in the Nhue, Day, Cau, and Thuong rivers. It is also important to combine solutions to prevent the lowering of water levels and riverbeds and transfer water between rivers to restore water quality, flow, and environmental landscape in rivers.
Vietnam strive to protect the ‘source’ of life. (Photo: Hung Vo/Vietnamplus) Deputy Director of the Department of Water Resources Management under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Khuyen said the ministry is also assigned to develop the draft Law on Water Resources (amended) to submit to the National Assembly for comments, review and approval in 2023. It is expected to help the State manage, control and comprehensively regulate water issues on the basis of unified management of water resources between sectors and localities./.
