LIt is an economic sector, not just state management
Speaking at group 10 (including delegations from the National Assembly of Thai Binh, Dong Thap, and Ha Giang), according to Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh, the new draft law stipulates water resources including underground water, surface water, rain water and sea water, but there is no regulation on wastewater. In today's world, wastewater is a resource and water resources are increasingly depleted, which in the law also raises the issue of reuse is wastewater.
In our country, the water flowing in is mainly river water from China, Laos, Cambodia and only 2 rivers flowing out are Ky Cung river and Serepok river. According to statistics, only 93% of our water flows in, only 6% flows out, in addition to rain water. Meanwhile, aquatic resources, which are forests, are increasingly depleted, so the problem of water resource management is not a single sector but an integrated multidisciplinary issue.
Water resources in our country compared to the world are abundant but unevenly distributed in terms of territory, time, in the rainy season it is abundant, in drought season it is lacking as in Khanh Hoa, in the rainy season, there is an excess of 3 billion m3 of water, and a shortage of nearly 800 million in the drought season.
Besides, the problem of our water resources is facing the problem of wasteful use, over-exploitation, and serious pollution, which is a problem to be solved in the Draft Law. Meanwhile, not reusing much leads to how many million m3 of wastewater is discharged every day, but if technology can be used to reuse it, it is very good, very precious instead of having to drill, chisel... to create a water source. Waste and loss have statistical data in our country from 37 to 50%.
Therefore, the above issues need to be raised in the Draft Law because water is not something that is not given for free but is an asset, a valuable commodity, and increasingly valuable, therefore, the State must regulate water like electricity. At the same time, because water is a commodity but already a commodity, it must be paid and water resources must be an economic sector, not just state management. Therefore, the Drafting Committee needs to continue to study to complete the Draft Law.
Socialization to water no longer "cheap as give"
On the afternoon of June 5, the National Assembly conducted a group discussion on the draft Law on Water Resources (amended). Participating in group 6 comments, delegate Ta Thi Yen (Dien Bien delegation) expressed concern about water pollution.
Delegate raised the issue: According to a World Bank study, if no action is taken to stop the threats of water pollution, the Vietnamese economy could lose about 6% of GDP per year from 2035 compared to the no-threats scenario. The main threat is the impact of contaminated water on human health, which could reduce GDP by 3,5% by 2035. The smaller impact of about 0,8% on rice yields is due to the effects of poor water quality. This model does not take into account the economic consequences of other forms of water pollution, including saline intrusion of surface water and groundwater. High levels of pollution also limit the sustainable and future development of industries and agriculture. Vietnam will spend about 12,4 - 18,6 million USD per day in treatment costs due to pollution by 2030 if no timely treatment measures are taken.
Therefore, the delegate said that the regulation in sync with a number of specialized laws on planning, environmental protection, investment ... is very important to ensure the exploitation of water sources, prevent degradation, depletion and pollution of water sources. At the same time, avoid economic losses for organizations and individuals when investing in the construction of water exploitation and use works and the interests of organizations and individuals that are exploiting and using water sources. "Before adjusting and supplementing water exploitation and use works, it is necessary to determine the suitability of the work with the planning on water resources, water source functions, water source capacity, as well as the impact on exploitation and use of other water sources," emphasized Ms. Ta Thi Yen.
In addition, female delegate Ta Thi Yen also suggested carefully reviewing regulations related to current taxes, fees and charges to generate revenue as well as resources for implementing water resource management activities from the State budget. At the same time, creating favorable conditions for mobilizing service revenue and contributions from organizations and individuals.
The female delegate agreed with the policies in the draft Law on socialization of the water sector so that water is no longer "cheap as giving", thereby encouraging responsible, economical and efficient use of water. "At the same time, encouraging organizations and individuals to invest in the protection, development, storage and restoration of water sources are important activities to ensure water security, sustainable development, storage and recovery of water resources," emphasized Ms. Yen.
Clarifying regulations on determining “Minimum Flow”
Discussion group 7 (including delegations from Thai Nguyen, Lam Dong, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Long An), delegate Nguyen Thi Yen, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Delegation of National Assembly deputies of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, said that the Law on Water Resources 2012, after 10 years of adjustment, has contributed to a positive change in awareness and actions of the whole society. Water resources are managed and used more efficiently and sustainably. However, a number of shortcomings and limitations have also been revealed during the implementation process. It is necessary to amend and supplement to ensure conformity with reality, further improve effectiveness, and remove difficulties.
Regarding the scope of regulation (Article 1), the delegate found that according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 1, "Underground water..." is not within the scope of this Law. However, in the draft law, there are many articles that regulate the management content related to "Underground water" from Discharge; Exploit; Protect; Additional; Exploration, Practice; Licensing, etc. (for example at Points a, Clause 3, Article 12; Clause 2, Article 15, Article 26, Article 30, Article 40, Article 52,...). Thus, it is inconsistent and does not fall within the scope of regulation in Article 1. Therefore, the delegate suggested that the drafting committee need to review it. If it is not within the scope of this law, it must be submitted. However, the delegate proposed that the drafting committee consider that "Underground water" should be regulated by this Law, because "underground water" is also a water resource defined by this law in Clause 1, Article 3.
Regarding minimum flow (Article 25) and Groundwater extraction threshold (Article 26): The delegate said that the regulation on "Minimum flow" is a new content in the draft law and according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 25, "Minimum flow" is the basis and basis for consideration in the process of appraising and deciding on many important tasks such as: Planning on water resources, provincial planning, specialized planning, technical planning, etc. Reservoir operation process; Issuing permits for exploitation and use of water resources…
Thus, the determination of the "minimum flow" must be done first, etc. However, the draft law does not specify what time must be done, must be completed and announced, etc., as well as the methods, tools, standards and regulations related to determining how much flow is called the lowest in inter-national, inter-provincial, intra-provincial rivers and streams, reservoirs, dams,.... If this issue is not available or has not been identified, can the National Water Resources Plans, Provincial Plans and many others be approved. Therefore, it is suggested that the drafting committee consider the provisions of this Article 25.
Similarly, for the provisions in Article 26 of the draft law on "Thresholds for exploitation of underground water", the delegate suggested that the drafting committee consider reviewing it, because it also has some content similar to Article 25. "The threshold for groundwater extraction" is also the basis and basis for consideration in the process of appraising and deciding on many important tasks related to planning..., but determining the method, the draft law, and the time limit for extraction of water has not been specified.
Amendment of the Law to be consistent in order to maximize the exploitation of natural resources
Delegate Trang A Duong (Ha Giang National Assembly Delegation) agreed to amend the Law on Water Resources in 2012 in order to complete a synchronous and unified legal corridor for the maximum exploitation of natural resources, rational allocation and effective use, ensuring national water security, clearly delineating responsibilities for water resource management and management of water exploitation works at both central and local levels; Amending the Law on Water Resources contributes to unifying the database, reducing the management and operating costs of the state investment...
Contributing in detail on the contents, on the interpretation of words (Article 3), the delegates proposed to study additional concepts: reuse of used water, water circulation, water quality improvement to ensure the contents of the Amended Law on economical and efficient use of water and reuse of used water because water is an invaluable resource but not inexhaustible for humans and in the future.
In addition, it is recommended that the drafting agency study and supplement the investment and construction of water exploitation and use works for purposes that must be consistent with regional planning, provincial planning, general planning of river basins and other specialized technical master plans. In order to ensure the exploitation and use of water resources more specifically and closely through the overall and comprehensive planning of the competent authorities from the central to local levels.
Regarding the exploitation and use of water resources for daily life (Article 45), the delegate pointed out at Point a, Clause 1 of the draft Law that: “Investing in and supporting projects on water supply for daily life and clean water, giving priority to ethnic minority areas, border areas, islands, areas with water scarcity, areas with polluted water sources, severe degradation, saltwater intrusion, areas with special social and economic difficulties, – areas with special economic difficulties, –”. The delegate proposed to rewrite as follows: "Investing in and supporting projects on supplying daily-life water and clean water with priority for ethnic minority and mountainous areas, border areas, islands, water-scarce areas, areas with polluted water sources, serious degradation, saline intrusion, areas with difficult socio-economic conditions, especially difficult" for concise, easy to understand.
Regarding the settlement of disputes and disagreements over inter-country water sources (Article 75) In Clause 2, the delegate proposed to rewrite it briefly, as follows: "Disputes and disagreements about inter-country water sources occurring in a river basin with an international river basin organization to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam participates shall be resolved within the framework of that international river basin organization".
