At DNP Bac Giang clean water plant (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - With a growing population, increasing demand for water andthe negative impacts of climate change, Vietnam faces major challenges inensuring water security.
Now is the time for the country to speed up studies on water security andenvironmental security to develop a legal framework and solutions to tackle thechallenges, said Director of the National Centre for Water Resources Planningand Investigation Trieu Duc Huy.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Vietnamnow has about 830-840 billion cubic metres of surface water, some 63 percent ofwhich originates in neighbouring countries upstream.
This means Vietnam’s water security heavily depends on actions taken oninternational rivers like Hong (Red) River or Mekong River, said DeputyMinister of MONRE Le Cong Thanh.
He added neighbouring countries upstream of the rivers tend to exploit thewater resources, creating more pressure on Vietnam’s water security.
Within the country, rivers and lakes have suffered from the negative impacts ofsocio-economic development, with many bodies of water now being polluted.
Water resources for daily use and livelihood have sharply decreased and evendisappeared in some localities as increasing demand for water has not been inline with proper measures for water resources protection and water useefficiency.
In addition, the country has underground water reserves of about 63 billioncubic metres per year.
About 80.6 billion cubic metres of water is exploited and used in Vietnamyearly. Of the exploited water, more than 80 percent is used for agriculturalproduction.
Meanwhile, about 60 percent of Vietnam’s surface water is in the Mekong Delta,some 20 percent is in Red River and Dong Nai River, and most of the wateravailability is in the rainy season.
During dry season, which lasts between six and nine months in Vietnam, watervolume accounts for only 20-30 percent of total water volume of the year.
The difference of water availability by time and geography causes waterscarcity and water shortages in dry seasons.
Director of the National Centre for Water Resources Planning and InvestigationTrieu Duc Huy said that in 2008, MONRE issued regulations on underground waterprotection, including criteria to identify areas where underground waterexploitation is allowed or banned.
However, few localities nationwide have identified areas where undergroundexploitation is restricted or banned.
Meanwhile, overexploitation or exploiting underground water without planninghave caused land subsidence in Hanoi, HCM City and some areas in the MekongDelta.
“To ensure water security in a changing era, Vietnam needs to speed up studieson the issue so that it could have better legal framework and solutions formanaging and responding,” Huy said.
At the same time, the country must improve its capacity in forecasting andearly warning of the impacts of works built on major rivers’ upstream of thecountry, for example, drought or saltwater intrusion, he said.
“It is also necessary to develop water resources planning for Mekong Deltaregion and implement planning under climate change scenarios and waterexploitation activities by countries on river upstream,” Huy said.
Hoang Van Bay, head of MONRE’s Department of Water Resources Management, toldthat in 2012, the National Assembly approved the amended Law on WaterResources, adding regulations on water resources protection.
The country also has a national action plan to improve efficiency in waterresources management, protection and usage from 2014 to 2020.
Bay said water resource management faced difficulties, for example, waterresources planning is slow, there is a lack of databases and illegalunderground water exploitation is rampant.
He said that MONRE has proposed a plan on water resource surveys to the PrimeMinister.
The plan includes surveys and assessments on the country’s surface water andunderground water, expected to help produce a national report on water resourcesevery five years.
The ministry also expects to complete and start a surveillance system on theoperation of about 70 major reservoirs on basins of 11 rivers nationwide.
Another surveillance system is expected to work to control water exploitationand wastewater release into water resources.
“It is expected that by 2050, water resources surveys and studies could providesufficient data to help manage, exploit, use and protect water resourcessustainably,” Bay said.-VNA
Now is the time for the country to speed up studies on water security andenvironmental security to develop a legal framework and solutions to tackle thechallenges, said Director of the National Centre for Water Resources Planningand Investigation Trieu Duc Huy.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Vietnamnow has about 830-840 billion cubic metres of surface water, some 63 percent ofwhich originates in neighbouring countries upstream.
This means Vietnam’s water security heavily depends on actions taken oninternational rivers like Hong (Red) River or Mekong River, said DeputyMinister of MONRE Le Cong Thanh.
He added neighbouring countries upstream of the rivers tend to exploit thewater resources, creating more pressure on Vietnam’s water security.
Within the country, rivers and lakes have suffered from the negative impacts ofsocio-economic development, with many bodies of water now being polluted.
Water resources for daily use and livelihood have sharply decreased and evendisappeared in some localities as increasing demand for water has not been inline with proper measures for water resources protection and water useefficiency.
In addition, the country has underground water reserves of about 63 billioncubic metres per year.
About 80.6 billion cubic metres of water is exploited and used in Vietnamyearly. Of the exploited water, more than 80 percent is used for agriculturalproduction.
Meanwhile, about 60 percent of Vietnam’s surface water is in the Mekong Delta,some 20 percent is in Red River and Dong Nai River, and most of the wateravailability is in the rainy season.
During dry season, which lasts between six and nine months in Vietnam, watervolume accounts for only 20-30 percent of total water volume of the year.
The difference of water availability by time and geography causes waterscarcity and water shortages in dry seasons.
Director of the National Centre for Water Resources Planning and InvestigationTrieu Duc Huy said that in 2008, MONRE issued regulations on underground waterprotection, including criteria to identify areas where underground waterexploitation is allowed or banned.
However, few localities nationwide have identified areas where undergroundexploitation is restricted or banned.
Meanwhile, overexploitation or exploiting underground water without planninghave caused land subsidence in Hanoi, HCM City and some areas in the MekongDelta.
“To ensure water security in a changing era, Vietnam needs to speed up studieson the issue so that it could have better legal framework and solutions formanaging and responding,” Huy said.
At the same time, the country must improve its capacity in forecasting andearly warning of the impacts of works built on major rivers’ upstream of thecountry, for example, drought or saltwater intrusion, he said.
“It is also necessary to develop water resources planning for Mekong Deltaregion and implement planning under climate change scenarios and waterexploitation activities by countries on river upstream,” Huy said.
Hoang Van Bay, head of MONRE’s Department of Water Resources Management, toldthat in 2012, the National Assembly approved the amended Law on WaterResources, adding regulations on water resources protection.
The country also has a national action plan to improve efficiency in waterresources management, protection and usage from 2014 to 2020.
Bay said water resource management faced difficulties, for example, waterresources planning is slow, there is a lack of databases and illegalunderground water exploitation is rampant.
He said that MONRE has proposed a plan on water resource surveys to the PrimeMinister.
The plan includes surveys and assessments on the country’s surface water andunderground water, expected to help produce a national report on water resourcesevery five years.
The ministry also expects to complete and start a surveillance system on theoperation of about 70 major reservoirs on basins of 11 rivers nationwide.
Another surveillance system is expected to work to control water exploitationand wastewater release into water resources.
“It is expected that by 2050, water resources surveys and studies could providesufficient data to help manage, exploit, use and protect water resourcessustainably,” Bay said.-VNA
VNA
