New regulations on scope of water source protection corridors for rivers, streams, canals and ditches in Vietnam

According to Decree No. 43/2015/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, scope of water source protection corridors for rivers, streams, canals and ditches is prescribed as follows:

1. For river, stream, canal or ditch protection corridors with the functions defined at Point a, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Decree, the scope of water source protection corridor is prescribed as follows:

- Not shorter than 10 m from the bank edge, for river, stream, canal or ditch sections running through urban centers or concentrated residential quarters or areas planned for construction of urban centers or concentrated residential quarters;

- Not shorter than 5 m from the bank edge, for river, stream, canal or ditch sections not running through urban centers or concentrated residential quarters;

- If the river, stream, canal or ditch sections have slid or arc in danger of slide, the People’s Committees of provinces or centrally run cities (below referred collectively to as provincial-level People’s Committees) shall base themselves on the development of flowing beds and the slide conditions to decide on the scope of protection corridors in order to ensure safety for people’s lives and property, limit the causes of bank slide, and protect the stability of the river, stream, canal or ditch banks;

- For river, stream, canal or ditch sections that have been embanked against slide and encroachment, provincial-level People’s Committees shall consider and decide on a scope of water source protection corridor smaller than the minimum scope defined at Points a and b of this Clause.

2. For river, stream, canal or ditch protection corridors with the functions defined at Point b, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Decree, the water source protection corridors are prescribed as follows:

- Not shorter than 20 m from the bank edge, for river, stream, canal or ditch sections running through urban centers or concentrated residential quarters or areas planned for construction of urban centers or concentrated residential quarters;

- Not shorter than 15 m from the bank edge, for river, stream, canal or ditch sections not running through urban centers or concentrated residential quarters.

3. For river, stream, canal or ditch protection corridors with the functions defined at Point c, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Decree, the scope of water resource protection corridors must not be smaller than 30 m from the bank edge or cover the entire submerged areas along the sides of the river, stream, canal or ditch,

4. For river, stream, canal or ditch protection corridors with the functions defined at Point d, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Decree, provincial-level People’s Committees shall decide on specific scopes of water source protection corridors.

5. In case a water source protection corridor has two or more functions, the minimum scope of the corridor shall be determined according to the function with the largest minimum scope.

6. For the water source protection corridors defined in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article with dykes, railways, roads or other infrastructure facilities built nearby the river, stream, canal or ditch sections, the maximum scope of these water source protection corridors must not transcend the boundary of the dyke protection corridors close to the river or of the safety corridor of such facilities close to the bank.

7. For canals or ditches within the irrigation systems, the protection corridors shall be established and managed under the law on the protection of irrigation works.

8. For rivers, streams, canals and ditches located within nature conservation zones or within the protection scope of historical or cultural relics, the laws on nature conservation and protection of historical and cultural relics shall be complied with.

View more details at Decree No. 43/2015/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, effective from July 01, 2015.

Le Hai

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