National water resource security scheme discussed

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Water Resource Management Department convened an online meeting with relevant units in Hanoi on May 17 to discuss building a scheme to ensure national water resource security.

Speaking at the event, deputy head of the department Nguyen Minh Khuyen said Vietnam has about 830-840 billion cu.m of water. However, about 60 percent are flowing from external sources. Meanwhile, water flow distribution is uneven, mostly in the Mekong Delta with around 57 percent, the Red River – Thai Binh nearly 16 percent and the remaining from other basins.

Underground water reaches about 63 billion cu.m while water for socio-economic development nears 84 billion cu.m each year. Domestic water demand is expected to rise by about 32 percent by 2030, leading to higher risk of losing water security.

In a 2019 report, the World Bank pointed out water-related threats on the gross domestic product unless timely measures are proposed.

The National Assembly’s Committee on Science, Technology and Environment also made clear several challenges affecting water security in Vietnam such as the lack of water volume and quality, safety of water reservoirs, reliance on water from external sources and saltwater intrusion. 

Concluding the event, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Cong Thanh asked the department to collect public feedback on the draft scheme, saying that it must outline a landscape of water resources in the country along with tasks and measures to deal with basic issues./.