PV: The 15th National Assembly has officially passed the Law on Water Resources 2023. What are the "bright spots" of this important law, sir?
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Ha: The 2023 Law on Water Resources, consisting of 10 chapters and 86 articles, has institutionalized the Party and State's new viewpoints, guidelines and policies on water resources management and protection through four important policy groups on ensuring water security; Socialization of the water sector; Water resources economics and Protection of water resources, prevention and control of harmful effects caused by water.
One of the "bright spots" that I am most satisfied with from the process of amending the Law until the Law was passed is "Ensuring national water security". This is also one of the core points, the red thread running through the 2023 Law on Water Resources in its chapters and articles with the goal of raising the level of ensuring national water security to the group of countries that effectively ensure water security in the Southeast Asian region by 2030 and approaching advanced countries in the world . Ensuring the quantity and quality of water for people's lives in all situations, meeting the needs of water use for socio-economic development, national defense, security, and environmental activities, and minimizing risks and harms from human-caused and natural disasters related to water.
This is also a major and very timely change, especially in the context of water resources being increasingly at risk of degradation, depletion, and pollution under the strong impact of the socio-economic development process of upstream countries because most of Vietnam's water resources depend on international river water sources as well as the great impact of climate change. In addition, water is gradually considered a national asset and has a very high economic and social value, so fundamentally changing the awareness and responsibility of people, businesses and all levels in exploiting, using water economically, effectively and protecting national water resources is very necessary.
Along with that, the Law also specifies regulations focusing on prevention, control and restoration of degraded, depleted and polluted water sources; clearly defining the responsibilities for water resource management and the responsibilities for managing water exploitation works at both central and local levels to overcome overlaps and legal conflicts. Aiming to manage water resources on a digital technology platform, unifying the database, building a set of tools to support real-time decision-making, minimizing management and operation personnel, and State investment costs...
At the same time, the Law will resolve practical difficulties and overlaps between the Law on Water Resources and other laws to unify investigation, management, exploitation and use from the central to local levels, unify water resources management, assign responsibilities to ministries and branches to manage in accordance with the functions and tasks prescribed in laws related to water resources such as: irrigation, hydropower, water supply, waterway transport, etc.
PV: Combining the 2023 Water Resources Law recently passed by the National Assembly with a series of Water Resources Plans approved in the past 2 years, in your opinion, what fundamental changes will the 2023 Water Resources Law bring about and what turning points will it create in the state management of water resources, sir?
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Ha: First of all, we must mention the Water Resources Planning, including: water resources planning; integrated planning of inter-provincial river basins; planning for protection, exploitation and use of international water resources. In which, water resources planning is the overall national orientation in the management, regulation, distribution, exploitation, use, protection, development of water resources, prevention and control of harmful effects caused by water and is one of the bases for the establishment of national sectoral plans with water exploitation and use, regional planning and provincial planning.
Based on the water resources planning, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment develops comprehensive plans for inter-provincial river basins to ensure a harmonious allocation of water use benefits among localities, sectors, and between upstream and downstream. In particular, it focuses on effectively solving specific problems of each river basin such as drought, pollution, degradation, flooding, etc. to strengthen water security in the basin. Based on the water resources planning, the People's Committees of provinces/cities direct the development of plans for exploitation, use, protection of water resources, prevention, control and overcoming of harmful effects caused by water in provincial planning.
In order to manage water resources well, the Law on Water Resources 2023 has stipulated one of the core and important tools in managing, using and protecting water resources effectively, ensuring water security, which is the "principle of regulating and distributing water resources", with the basic principle of being consistent with the Water Resources Planning. Accordingly, all activities of exploiting and using water resources must be based on water resources planning. From the 10-year Water Resources Planning, we will have an annual water source scenario as a basis for ministries and branches to use water resources reasonably and economically, while complying with the water exploitation quota in the water resources exploitation license. This is an important step forward that will fundamentally change the way water resources are managed and operated to serve socio-economic development in Vietnam.
In other words, the Law on Water Resources 2023 is the "backbone", an important legal corridor for comprehensive, integrated and fair management of water resources. In particular, water resources planning is the "key" throughout the state management of water resources. Starting from water resources planning, we will build water resource scenarios to regulate and distribute water resources. The regulation and distribution of water resources for the purposes of water exploitation and use must be based on water resource scenarios, water resources planning, technical and specialized planning with water exploitation and use, current status, demand and quotas for water exploitation and use taking into account the impact of climate change, and water resource accounting results.
PV: In order for the legal corridor on water resource protection to truly enter social life, reach the hearts of the people, and receive the cooperation of the people in implementing policies and legal regulations, in your opinion, in the coming time, how can we mobilize the strength of the entire people in the work of protecting water resources?
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Ha: In my opinion, there is no more effective tool in disseminating and educating about the law on water resources, promoting proactiveness, encouraging people to protect water resources and mobilizing people to protect water resources as if they were protecting their own resources.
Furthermore, with the change in policy mechanisms on socialization and water resource finance in the 2023 Water Resources Law, we hope to mobilize social resources to "join hands" to protect water resources in terms of both quantity and quality, restore "dead" rivers, ensure fairness in water exploitation and use by sectors; improve the level of ensuring national water resource security, protecting the environment, river ecosystems and cultural values associated with water of the Vietnamese people.
PV: Thank you very much!
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