Dau Tieng reservoir supplies water for agriculture and daily life to Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Long An provinces and HCM City. (Photo: VNA)According to the 2024 plan to move towards smart water resourcemanagement, the ministry will maintain the operation of an online monitoring systemfor the exploitation and use of water for about 600 licensed projects.
There will be a push to develop digital maps for forecasting andalerting droughts and water shortages.
The units will enhance international cooperation, propose newtasks to serve the enforcement of the Water Resources Law, focusing on watersource security, water resource accounting, efficient water use, recycling andthe restoration of depleted, degraded, and polluted water sources.
Chau Tran Vinh, Director of the Water Resources ManagementDepartment under MoNRE, said that in 2024, the agency would draft and issuedecrees and circulars guiding the implementation of the Water Resources Law;implement the project "Comprehensive Impact Assessment and Solutions forDealing with Hydropower Development on the Mainstream of the Mekong River."
At the same time, it would develop a draft water source scenarioto be submitted to the ministry in early 2025, for other ministries, sectorsand localities to develop water usage plans.
The department would collaborate with the Pollution ControlDepartment to submit to the Government for approval the surface water qualitymanagement plan for the river basins of Bang Giang - Ky Cung, Ma, Ba, Tra Khuc,Kon, Se San and Srepok.
Vinh emphasised that in 2023, the natural resources sector hadaccomplished numerous tasks, with the ministry successfully completing thedraft amendment to the Water Resources Law, which had been approved by theNational Assembly.
In its role as the head of the ASEAN Working Group on WaterResources Management, Vietnam has actively participated in ASEAN cooperationactivities on water resources, including the UN Water Conference in March 2023,the 4th International Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit in Laos, and the28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention onClimate Change (COP28) in Dubai in December 2023.
Nguyen Thi Thu Linh, Director General of the MRC Joint Committeefor Vietnam, said that in 2023, the committee made significant contributions toevaluating the results of implementing the five-year cooperation plan on waterresources for the 2018-2022 period. It also worked on improving the developmentof the five-year action plan for Mekong-Lancang cooperation on water resourcesfor the 2023-2027 phase.
Moreover, the agency also contributed comments on cooperationdocuments and participated in relevant meetings within the framework of theGreater Mekong Subregion cooperation mechanism, Mekong-US Partnership,Mekong-Korea cooperation, Mekong-Japan cooperation, Mekong-Ganga cooperation.
To enhance international cooperation within the Mekong subregion,Linh said that in 2024, the MRC Joint Committee for Vietnam would prepare forthe 31st meeting of the MRC Council in Laos; implement the action plan forMekong-Lancang cooperation on water resources for the 2023-2027 phase; organisethe 2nd Ministerial Meeting of Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation in Vietnam.
The agency would strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperationwith Mekong riparian countries to exchange and share information on planning,strategic development of the Mekong River basin, and construction and operationof water exploitation and the use of projects./.
VNA
