Digital transformation in water resource management

Integrating water resource management into master planning

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just issued a plan to implement Action Program No. 41-CTrHD/TU dated June 7, 2023 of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee on implementing Conclusion No. 36-KL/TW dated June 23, 2022 of the Politburo (Conclusion 36) on ensuring water security and safety of dams and reservoirs by 2030, with a vision to 2045.

Ho Chi Minh City will integrate water resource management into the city's master plan.

Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City aims to complete the development of technical plans, projects and schemes related to water by 2025 to integrate into the city's master plan. Ensure stable water supply for daily life and production, especially in the coastal areas of Can Gio and Thanh An island commune. At the same time, focus on repairing, upgrading and ensuring the safety of damaged and degraded irrigation and disaster prevention works, ensuring the ability to control heavy rains, high tides and flood prevention according to design.

By 2030, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to maintain stability, ensure water quality and output for people's lives and socio -economic development. Complete the synchronous system of works regulating salt water, fresh water, and storing water in major river basins. Complete the repair, investment, and upgrade of water transfer works, connect water sources from reservoirs, and irrigation systems to ensure stable and safe water supply for people, industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones, and expand the irrigation area for dry crops combined with improving the flood control capacity of the works. Proactively prevent and combat natural disasters, adapt to climate change; operate the system to monitor, evaluate, and supervise water security in the city.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the rate of industrial facilities treating wastewater reached 97% with the total amount of wastewater treated being 99%; all hospitals have invested in building wastewater treatment systems; 100% of industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones, and industrial clusters have invested in infrastructure with centralized wastewater treatment systems and automatic wastewater monitoring systems with data transmission to management agencies for inspection and supervision.

By 2045, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to maintain and enhance its proactiveness in creating water sources to serve people's lives and socio-economic development. Forecast and warn long-term to respond to and handle pollution, degradation, and depletion of water resources, respond to natural disasters, and climate change. Control and overcome degradation and pollution of water sources in river basins and irrigation systems. Complete a synchronous and unified water policy across sectors and regions, ensuring water security.

Increase urban wastewater treatment rate to 67%

To effectively implement Conclusion No. 36 of the Politburo on ensuring water security and safety of dams and reservoirs by 2030, with a vision to 2045, Ho Chi Minh City will strengthen propaganda, raise awareness for cadres, party members and people; perfect institutions and policies and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of state management of water resources and protect the safety of downstream areas of dams and reservoirs.

At the same time, Ho Chi Minh City will improve the quality of planning and basic investigation of water resources; improve the capacity to store, regulate, distribute water resources, and drain water to serve production and people's lives; improve the capacity to prevent and combat natural disasters related to water and climate change. Strengthen environmental protection, protect aquatic resources, prevent and combat pollution, degradation, and depletion of water resources. In particular, Ho Chi Minh City will promote research, development, application of science and technology, and digital transformation in ensuring water security and safety of downstream areas of dams and reservoirs.

Ho Chi Minh City will increase the urban wastewater treatment rate to 67% by 2026.

Speaking at the recent working session of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment with the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to discuss solutions to remove difficulties and obstacles in the management of natural resources and environment, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan suggested that in the coming time, Ho Chi Minh City needs to maintain and ensure the quality of the water environment in the Saigon - Dong Nai river basin; preserve the canal system to ensure the natural drainage of the urban area that is facing the situation of rising sea levels, high tides, etc.

In particular, according to Deputy Minister Vo Tuan Nhan, Ho Chi Minh City needs to speed up the rate of urban wastewater treatment because the current treatment rate is still quite low. In particular, the city needs to speed up the progress of projects to build centralized domestic wastewater treatment plants; when building new urban areas and residential areas, it is necessary to separate the two drainage systems for rainwater and domestic wastewater...

Also at the meeting, Standing Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai said that Ho Chi Minh City will implement all solutions to protect the quality of water resources, serving daily life and production. In particular, the city will focus on accelerating the construction of domestic wastewater treatment plants to strive to increase the urban domestic wastewater treatment rate to 67% by 2026.

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