Towards water resource management on digital technology platform

Continuing the 5th Session Program, on the afternoon of June 5, the National Assembly discussed in Groups the draft Law on Water Resources (amended).

Supplement on national water resources information system and database

The draft Law on Water Resources (amended) consists of 83 articles and is structured into 10 chapters. Compared to the 2012 Law on Water Resources, the draft Law does not increase the number of chapters (in which 9 articles are kept unchanged; 59 articles are amended and supplemented; 15 new articles are added) and 13 articles are abolished.

Through discussions in the Group, National Assembly deputies basically agreed with the necessity of the draft law, assessed that the draft Law on Water Resources (amended) had been carefully prepared, widely consulted with affected subjects and relevant management agencies; referred to international laws and experiences in water resources management; and seriously accepted many appraisal opinions and comments.

Delegates said that the provisions in the draft Basic Law ensure constitutionality, legality, consistency with the legal system and international treaties to which Vietnam is a member, and ensure feasibility.

According to National Assembly delegate Van Thi Bach Tuyet ( Ho Chi Minh City), the drafting of the Law on Water Resources (amended) is necessary to contribute to ensuring regulations that are consistent with reality, helping to protect water resources and aquatic resources to serve people's lives; specifying prohibited acts as well as sanctions for handling violations to serve as a basis for strictly handling violations and protecting water resources...

Going into specific content, delegate Van Thi Bach Tuyet expressed concern about the use of the phrase “quantity and quality of water” in the draft Law. According to the delegate, although the current Law also stipulates the use of the phrase “quantity and quality of water”, the delegate believes that water cannot be counted in quantity, so it should be replaced with the phrase “volume and quality” which would be more appropriate.

In addition, delegates also expressed their high agreement with the addition of information systems and national water resources databases with the contents specified in the draft. Because having this information system and database will help our state management work better, authorities at all levels will have solutions to protect water resources as well as exploit and use water resources more reasonably.

Delegate Tran Thi Nhi Ha ( Hanoi ) suggested that the agency in charge of drafting the Law on Water Resources (amended) should continue to study and complete the content of the draft Law on Water Resources on "carrying capacity of water resources" to ensure consistency with the provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection on the carrying capacity of the environment. In addition, it is suggested to continue reviewing and completing the content on preventing seawater pollution with the provisions on protecting the marine environment and the provisions on controlling marine and island environmental pollution in the Law on Natural Resources to ensure consistency and unity.

Water resource management on digital technology platform

Contributing opinions to the draft Law on Water Resources (amended), delegate Ta Dinh Thi (Hanoi) said that the project has been carefully prepared by the Government, and has absorbed international experience. The amendment of this Law is timely, in line with current life trends as well as the situation of climate change and water pollution. The content of the amendment to the Law on Water Resources is relatively comprehensive, focusing on key issues and current shortcomings.

Regarding water resource management by river basin, delegate Ta Dinh Thi said that it is necessary to have tools to manage water resources in river basins as well as propose to add responsibilities to ministries, river basin organizations and relevant parties in determining minimum flows.

In addition, it is recommended that the drafting agency clearly define the roles, functions and tasks of the River Basin Organization, especially the functions of investigating and assessing water reserves, planning; regulating water exploitation and use; monitoring water exploitation and use, protecting the environment and ecosystems, etc. to improve the effectiveness of river basin water resource management.

In addition, the delegate also said that currently the River Basin Council has limited resources, so it is necessary to stipulate resources to arrange activities more effectively. On the other hand, the draft Law needs to stipulate more clearly about water management activities in river basins, which need to be more flexible and effective.

At the discussion session of the Group, on behalf of the drafting agency, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh thanked and hoped to continue receiving comments on the draft Law on Water Resources (amended). The comments will be fully absorbed and fully explained by the drafting committee.

The Minister also affirmed the view that water is a valuable commodity and asset of the country, which needs to be protected, regulated, and used in a harmonious and reasonable manner. Therefore, it is necessary to complete a synchronous and unified legal corridor to allocate and ensure water security; at the same time, move towards water resource management on a digital technology platform./.

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