Require more than VND 600,000 billion to ensure water security

Guarantee water proactiveness in all situations

On August 10, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep has had a meeting with relevant agencies to finalize the report to submit to the Government on the draft of the “Ensure water security and the safety of dams and reservoirs in the 2021-2025 period, vision 2045” Project.

“Water security, the safety of dams and reservoirs must be associated with national security, climate change and natural disaster prevention and control. At the same time, it must as well be associated with the socio-economic structure”, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep emphasized.

The Deputy Minister also noted that the endogenous water source in the Vietnam territory will play a key role, and the exogenous water source besides will be fully, rationally and effectively utilized.

According to the draft of the project, the goal until 2030 is to strive to apply scientific and technological solutions to smart water management on the basis of digital technology, operate structures safely, control and use water economically and efficiently, reduce the impact of water-related disasters.

At the same time, Vietnam will complete the construction of large water reservoirs, water transfer systems, linking water sources of large river basins to ensure the storage, balance and regulation of water sources between seasons, regions and river basins; complete the repair and upgrade for damaged, degraded water reservoirs, lacking flood prevention and control abilities.

According to the Directorate of Water Resources, the 2030 goal will strive for 100% of dams, large reservoirs, reservoirs with flood control valves being modernized in management and exploitation, raising the safety level to fully meet international standards.

Identify “software” and “hardware” solutions

Mr. Dao Quang Tuynh, Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Economics (Government Office), commented: “The “Ensure water security and the safety of dams and reservoirs” Project needs to identify “software” and “hardware” solutions. It’s because there are things we still can do with little money, typically, the solution to transform production in the direction of "axes rotation" with the main products that provinces have been implementing strongly in recent years”.

In arid and water-lacking regions, it is essential to convert rice cultivation to other more suitable crops and livestock as well as improve the capacity and efficiency of management, exploitation and operation of irrigation structures and water control structures.

“To be proactive in terms of water resources, we need to improve the structures’ capacity to regulate the water sources. Meanwhile, the solutions we have come up with are very vague on the story of investment and construction of these structures. If we do not continue to invest in construction, we cannot achieve the set goals", said Mr. Do Duc Dung, Director of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Planning.

According to the draft of the “Ensure water security and the safety of dams and reservoirs in the 2021-2025 period, vision 2045” Project, VND 610,000 billion is the minimum budget required until 2030.

Goals until 2045

Continue to perfect institutions, mechanisms and policies in water management, exploitation and usage in accordance with the requirements of the new period;

Complete the construction of large structures to regulate salt and fresh water, raise and store water in the river system. Form a network to link and transfer water in the region as well as the whole nation, operating on a digital technology platform, taking initiative in endogenous water sources, reducing dependence on water sources outside the territory;

100% of the rural population can use clean water up to the standards; 70% of rice and upland crops are grown with advanced farming methods and water-saving irrigation;

Polluted, degraded, exhausted water sources are basically treated and restored; facilities that exploit, use water and discharge wastewater into water sources nationwide are controlled, advanced and water-saving technologies are applied;

Proactively and promptly respond to all catastrophes and natural disasters caused by water; Raise the national water security index to be included in the group of countries effectively ensuring water security in the region.