Workers dredge a river in Hanoi to clear its flow. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi has 104 irrigation lakes, 105 rivers and canals with total length of morethan 799km, according to the municipal Department of Natural Resources andEnvironment (DoNRE).
However, water sources are in danger of depletion and pollution.
In recent years during the dry season, water levels on the Hong (Red) River arecontinuously lowering affecting supplies for agricultural production and dailylife.
Hanoi has more than 8,000 hectares of agricultural land that depends onadditional water from hydropower reservoirs.
Some areas in Quoc Oai, Phuc Tho and Me Linh districts often lack water.
Nhue, To Lich, Lu, Set and Kim Nguu rivers are degraded, depleted and seriouslypolluted.
Permanent deputy director of the DoNRE Mai Trong Thai said there were manyreasons why this happens such as climate change, change of river flow andforest degradation reducing the ability to hold water.
Organisations’ and individuals’ awareness to protect water resources was alsopoor.
"Most people think that water is an inexhaustible resource, amisconception that makes the risk of water depletion serious," he said.
Vice chairman of the Quoc Oai District People's Committee Pham Quang Tuan saidan increase in population made the demand for water higher, while waterpollution problems were still prevalent.
To ensure water security, a good starting point was to raise communityawareness in exploitation and use of water resources, said Tuan.
Solutions
Hanoi assigned departments and districts to develop programmes to protect watersources towards 2030, with vision to 2045.
The capital city has set a target that by 2025, all of households in urbanareas and 85-90% of households in rural areas will have access to standardclean water.
By 2030, the city will balance water sources to serve the people's living andsocio-economic development, and at the same time overcome degradation andpollution in the To Lich, Lu, Set, Kim Nguu, Nhue, Cau Bay and Day rivers.
By 2045, Hanoi will take the initiative in water sources for socio-economicdevelopment and complete the policy system related to water.
Hanoi assigned departments to define areas where underground water exploitationis restricted, conduct basic surveys of water resources, and promulgate a listof ponds and lakes that cannot be levelled in the city.
Deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development NguyenManh Phuong said that the department would reorganise agricultural productionto ensure that it would be suitable to each region’s water resources condition.
The department would propose solutions to build water storage works to limitflooding on the Tich and Bui rivers in the rainy season, supplement water forproduction and daily life.
In the future, Hanoi will put strict controls on waste sources, restoredegraded and seriously polluted rivers, strengthen management on water sources.
The city will also strictly manage and control waste water treatment,especially for industrial production that pose a risk of pollution and reusewaste water after treatment.
Hanoi will actively cooperate with provinces and cities in the region to shareexperiences and policies to ensure water security towards sustainabledevelopment./.
VNA
