It is necessary to amend the Law on Water Resources

          Presenting the draft revised law on behalf of the Prime Minister, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh said for over 10 years of enforcement, the 2012 Law on Water Resources helped improve public awareness and action on the protection and exploitation of water resources, which have been managed and used in a more effective and sustainable manner.

         However, some of its regulations overlap other laws, thus hampering implementation or causing wastefulness. There is also a lack of a legal framework for ensuring water security as well as detailed rules on water distribution and supervision of water resource exploitation.

         Besides, the enforcement of relevant regulations in some places has not been strict enough, the detection, prevention and handling of violations has not been done well; financial mechanisms, sanctions, control and supervision tools are not effective; mechanisms for cooperation and settlement of transboundary water issues are not yet synchronized; the coordination is not synchronized and effective among all levels and sectors; Some contents of relevant laws are not consistent with the Law on Water Resources, etc.

       Based on the 2013 Constitution, resolutions of the Party, Politburo and National Assembly on water resource management. Therefore, it is necessary to update and institutionalize new views, guidelines and policies of the Party and State on the management and protection of water resources. In particular, it is necessary to study, amend and promulgate the Law on Water Resources (amended) in the direction of supplementing and perfecting the issued policies and studying the integration of regulations on water management in a water law to comprehensively manage, control and regulate water issues on the basis of unified management of water resources.

           Making the most of your resources

       With the project of the Law on Water Resources (amended), Vietnam's goal will be to complete a synchronous, unified and transparent legal corridor to be able to make the most of natural resources, to allocate them reasonably and use them effectively; ensure national water source security; focus on prevention, control and restoration of degraded, depleted and polluted water sources; clearly define the responsibilities of water resource management and the management of water exploitation works at both central and local levels to overcome legal overlaps and conflicts.

         In addition, the Law will aim to manage water resources on the basis of digital technology, unify the database, build a real-time decision support toolkit, reduce management personnel, operation and investment costs of the state; reduce business conditions for organizations and individuals.

          At the same time, it will gradually shift from management by administrative tools to management by economic tools through policies on: water prices, taxes, fees, charges, fees for granting the right to exploit water resources; promote socialization.

          The State unified management of water resources

         According to Minister Dang Quoc Khanh, the draft Law on Water Resources (amended) is built on the viewpoint: Institutionalize the view that water resources are public property owned by the entire people and uniformly managed by the State. Water resources must be the core in elaborating economic and social development planning, population planning, planning sectors and fields with water exploitation and use, planning national development strategies;

       The provisions of the Law must be consistent with the Constitution, in sync with relevant specialized laws and with international treaties related to the field of water resources that Viet Nam has signed or acceded to;

      Inheriting the provisions of the Law 2012 is effective; abolish inadequate regulations; update, amend and supplement current regulations accordingly;

        Establishing a legal corridor for national water resource governance on the basis of digital technology and integrating regulations related to water resource management, exploitation, use and supply in the Law on Water Resources; continue to renovate mechanisms and policies towards socializing the water sector;

       Ensuring national water source security; focus on prevention, control and restoration of degraded, depleted and polluted water sources; separate the integrated and unified management of water resources from the management and operation of water exploitation and use;

          Solving practical problems; legislating regulations that have been confirmed by practice;

          Developing the water economy, considering water products as essential goods; ensure equity in access to water sources;

        Approaching the international trend considering the characteristics of Viet Nam; amending the Law in the direction of integrating regulations related to water resources; at the same time, assigning responsibilities to ministries and branches to manage in accordance with their functions and tasks prescribed in laws related to water resources such as: irrigation, hydropower, water supply, waterway transport, etc.

          Source: http://www9.monre.gov.vn