05/12/2019
The project of “Capacity development for river basin water environment management” is supported by the Japanese Government with the following objectives: Capacity strengthening, development and implementation of river basin water environment management policies for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), as well as the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment (DONREs) through pilot projects implemented in Cầu river basin (Thái Nguyên, Bắc Giang, Bắc Ninh) and Đồng Nai river system basin (Bình Dương, Đồng Nai, Hồ Chí Minh City and Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu). For more than 3 years of implementation, the project has achieved some important results, contributing significantly to the environmental protection in general and river basin water environment protection in particular in Việt Nam.
In recent years, the Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA) has cooperated closely with Japanese experts and concerned localities to implement many practical and technical activities, including the development of technical reports, legal documents and technical guidelines, etc. Up to now, the Project has basically completed the development of a number of draft legal documents and related guidelines within the output framework of the Project. These outputs will be considered for application in river basin management in Việt Nam, especially in the river basin water environment management planning based on wastewater inventory science and total pollution load control approach, with the ability to meet the new requirements specified in the Law on Environmental Protection, the Law on Water Resources, as well as the Law on Planning. Specifically, a number of important legal documents have been developed through the Project such as Circular No. 76/2017/TT-BTNMT of the MONRE regulating the assessment of wastewater reception capacity and carrying capacity of river and lake water sources; Decision No. 154/QD-TCMT of the VEA on promulgating technical guidelines to calculate river carrying capacity; developing a draft Technical Report on coordination mechanism for river basin water environment management; Inventory handbook of wastewater pollution source for river basin water environment management; Guidance on information and data sharing for calculating carrying capacity and developing wastewater discharge source inventory; Guidance on coordination mechanism in pollutant load management...
The delegates took a photo at the final Project Steering Committee Meeting in April 2019
In addition to developing legal documents and guidelines, based on the results and ways of river basin water environment management, the Project has also outlined the Master Plan and the Action Plan of river basin water environment management in the pilot provinces and proposed a roadmap for integrated water resources management in Việt Nam. It is based on 5 factors: Implementation strategies and policies; Consideration on the amendment and supplementation of legal documents related to planning in accordance with the practical conditions; Development of an institutional framework (state administrative management of water resources, river basin, and public and private service organization for the water sector); Strengthening management capacity on water resources including data collection, professional skill improvement in management and monitoring of water resources, extraction and use of water and monitoring of inter-reservoir operation according to legal regulations; Application of tools in integrated management of water resources in accordance with practical conditions of Việt Nam.
At the same time, the project has also used QUAL2K model (model of river water and flow quality) and MIKE 11 model (simulation application of hydraulic mode, water quality and sediment transport in river mouths, rivers, irrigation systems, canals, other water systems) to perform pollution load analysis of selected areas on the Cầu river basin and the Đồng Nai river system basin, respectively. Thereby, it is necessary to study the simulation model of water quality to calculate the carrying capacity and propose to use the model for pilot projects in the basins. In addition, the project has also developed a process for making inventory of wastewater discharge sources in the two above selected areas and organized trainings for capacity building of the Central and local managers for river basin water environment.
For more than 3 years of the project implementation, the objective of the project activities is to step by step realize the integrated management of water resources on river basins in Vietnam. In order to achieve this objective, in the coming time, the management agencies need to consider and study to implement the 3 phases as described in the roadmap to better manage the river basin water resources after the completion of the project.
Phase 2020 - 2024: It is the phase of perfecting policies and creating a favorable environment for the integrated management of water resources. Applying the integrated management approach of water resources, taking Vu Gia - Thu Bồn river basin as a pilot area for application of institutions, policies, management tools to review and get experiences for other river basins. It is necessary to consider carefully the development of the Vu Gia - Thu Bồn river basin organization model to apply nationwide. As studies suggest, this phase shall be implemented in 4 years.
The Steering Committee Meeting of the Project "Capacity development for river basin water environment management” in December 2016
In Việt Nam, river basin organizations have been established but most of them have not really operated effectively, so the establishment of a new river basin organization must be very careful and it is necessary to carefully study other countries’ models with similar conditions to be able to rationally apply to Việt Nam.
Phase 2025 - 2030: It is the phase of establishing a number of priority river basin organizations and supporting the Directorate of Water Resources Management (DWRM) to operate and test the monitoring function.
To continue to complete relevant policies and strategies; to conduct study on the operational experience of the Vu Gia - Thu Bồn River Basin Committee (RBC) to continue the establishment and operation of the RBCs in the order of priority and the close coordination between the DWRM and the RBCs for synchronous application of the river basin water resources management solutions.
With the experience from the Vu Gia - Thu Bồn RBC’s activities, the establishment of the River Basin Committees is prioritized for important river basins such as: River basins of Hồng - Thái Bình; Cửu Long; Sê San - Srê Pok and Đồng Nai.
Post-2030 Phase: It is the phase of establishing and operating the remaining RBCs and perfecting the functions of each Committee for the integrated management of river basin water resources: Promoting the application of economic tools in the integrated water resources management, promoting the private and public sectors’ participation in the water resources management, and completing additional policies to support the governance of water resources.
For this phase, to continue to perfect policies and strategies for the integrated water resources management and the operation regulations of the RBCs and to strengthen the operational capacity for the RBCs to self-operate and apply the management tools.
The roadmap for the integrated management of water resources according to the priority activities for the phase is as follows: Supporting the DWRM and operating the RBCs to include the function of "sanctioning" of small-scale violations in the basins; continuing to establish additional Committees for the remaining river basins.
Lê Thanh Nga
Environmental Science Institute
(Source: Vietnam Environment Administration Magazine, English Edition II - 2019)
