Efforts made to secure equitable, sustainable management of rivers
In the face of growing pressure on water resources in recent years, authorities in Vietnam, including the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), have been striving to ensure the equitable and sustainable management of rivers nationwide.
An aerial view of a Mekong River branch in Vietnam (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - In the face of growingpressure on water resources in recent years, authorities in Vietnam, includingthe Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), have been strivingto ensure the equitable and sustainable management of rivers nationwide.
At the First International Meeting of PeopleAffected by Dams, in Curitiba city, Brazil, in March 1997, representatives from20 countries agreed that the International Day of Action for Rivers would fallon March 14 - Brazil’s Day of Action against Large Dams.
The aim of the day is to raise voices in unionagainst destructive water development projects, reclaim the health of riversand watersheds, and demand the equitable and sustainable management ofwaterways.
Vietnam is home to 108 river basins and about3,450 rivers and streams that are 10 km or more in length. The average amountof surface water stands at about 830 - 840 billion cubic metres, 63 percent ofwhich hails from other countries while only 310 - 320 billion cubic metres isgenerated in Vietnam.
Economic development and rapid urbanisation overrecent years have led to an increase in wastewater discharged from industrialand agricultural activities. Improperly treated wastewater has also put growingpressure on both the quantity and quality of water resources, including riversand streams.
Many major rivers have been suffering from differentlevels of pollution, which gets worse in the dry season when water flows naturallyfall.
Facing this fact, river basin committees inVietnam have conducted annual assessments of rivers and discussed solutions toprotect the environment. Coordination among localities in river basins remainsmodest, however.
To ensure water resources security, the MoNREhas built and overhauled rules guiding the enforcement of the Law on WaterResources and the Law on Environmental Protection.
It has also conducted water resources planningand set up river basin organisations with a view to effectively coordinatingand monitoring activities related to water resources.
Inter-reservoir operating procedures for certainriver basins, proposed by the ministry, were issued by the Prime Minister,providing an important legal basis for regulating the water resources of majorreservoirs to ensure interests between power generation, water supply foragriculture, and household use in downstream areas./.
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An aerial view of a Mekong River branch in Vietnam (Photo: VNA) 
