What are the new regulation and distribution of water resources in Vietnam under the Law on Water Resources 2023?
What are the new regulation and distribution of water resources in Vietnam under the Law on Water Resources 2023?
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 35 of the Law on Water Resources 2023, the regulation and distribution of water resources is carried out as follows:
(1) The regulation and distribution of water resources for the purposes of exploiting and using water resources shall rely on water resource-related planning, water source scenarios, status, demands and quotas for exploitation of water resources taking the climate change impacts and water resource accounting results into account and adhering to the following principles:
- Ensure water security, fairness and reasonableness among organizations and individuals exploiting and using water resources in the same river basin and between upstream and downstream areas;
- Give priority to the quantity and quality of water supplied for domestic activities; contribute to ensuring food security and energy security, and serving essential needs of the people;
In the case of drought or water scarcity, rely on the principles and order of priority determined under the comprehensive inter-provincial river basin planning to restrict the distribution of water resources to the inessential activities that use a lot of water and prioritize the supply of water for daily activities and activities that use water in an economical and efficient manner;
- Maintain minimum flow in rivers and streams, groundwater exploitation threshold;
- Combine or alternate the exploitation of surface water and the exploitation of groundwater and rainwater; enhance the rainwater storage.
(2) The regulation and distribution of water resources by way of regulating the operating regime of dams, reservoirs, water exploitation structures and coordinating the activities of exploitation and use of water resources in river basins and aquifers to optimize the socio-economic and environmental benefits brought by water resources and aim to regulate, distribute and regulate water resources using a system of decision support tools.
(3) A decision support tool system shall be built and operate on the basis of monitoring data, hydrometeorological forecasts, water resources, status of surface water and groundwater sources, demands for exploitation and use of water resources and numerical models built and operated in each river basin and aquifers in each region.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall organize the creation, management and operation of the decision support tool system. Organizations and individuals are encouraged to participate in building decision support systems and providing decision support services for regulation and distribution of water resources but shall comply with the regulations set out in Article 70 of the Law on Water Resources 2023.
(4) A water source scenario shall be constructed on the basis of status of water resources in river basins, hydrometeorological forecasts, water source changes and include the following main contents: status of the surface water source and ground water source, status of water storage in reservoirs in the river basin, water level in aquifers; demands for exploiting and using water resources; forecasts about trends in changes in rainfall, flow, amount of water stored in reservoirs and water levels in aquifers during a year; assessment of the degree of drought and water scarcity in the river basin.
(5) Annually, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall preside over and cooperate with other Ministries, ministerial agencies, provincial People's Committees, river basin organizations and other relevant organizations in constructing and announcing water source scenarios in river basins on the list of inter-provincial river basins for which comprehensive inter-provincial river basin planning is required. According to the announced water source scenarios, status and changes in water sources and hydrometeorological forecasts, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall decide to update water source scenarios.
(6) According to water source scenarios and requirements for management, exploitation and use of water resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Construction and People’s Committees of provinces in inter-provincial river basins shall, within their jurisdiction, provide directions for the formulation of plans to exploit and use water resources in conformity with the water source scenarios.
(7) According to the water source scenario, for a river basin which is forecast to suffer from a drought or water scarcity, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall preside over and cooperate with other related Ministries, ministerial agencies and provincial People's Committees in formulating and organizing the implementation of the plan to regulate and distribute water resources in compliance with the principles specified in clause 1 of Article 35 of the Law on Water Resources 2023.
What are the new regulation and distribution of water resources in Vietnam under the Law on Water Resources 2023?
Vietnam: When will the Law on Water Resources 2023 come into force?
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 85 of the Law on Water Resources 2023, there is the following content:
Effect
1. This Law comes into force from July 01, 2024, except for the case specified in clauses 3 and 4 of this Article.
2. The Law on Natural Resources No. 17/2012/QH13 amended by the Law No. 08/2017/QH14, Law No. 35/2018/QH14 and Law No. 72/2020/QH14 (hereinafter referred to as “the Law No. 17/2012/QH13”) shall cease to have effect from the effective date of this Law, except for the case specified in clauses 1, 3 and 5 Article 86 of this Law.
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Thus, the Law on Water Resources 2023 officially comes into force from July 1, 2024. However, the following two regulations have different effective dates:
- The calculation of fees for water resource exploitation right for domestic use according to the provisions of Point b, Clause 1, Article 69 of the Law on Water Resources 2023 will be implemented from July 1, 2025.
- The declaration for water resource exploitation right for domestic use by households specified in Clause 4, Article 52 of the Law on Water Resources 2023 will be implemented from July 1, 2026.
Vietnam: When will the groundwater exploitation threshold serve as one of the bases to be considered?
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 30 of the Law on Water Resources 2023, there are regulations on groundwater exploitation thresholds as follows:
Groundwater exploitation threshold shall serve as one of the bases to be considered during the appraisal, decision on and approval of the following tasks:
(1) Water resource-related planning; provincial planning and technical and specialized planning containing contents related to the exploitation and use of water resources; determination and announcement of areas prohibited and areas restricted from groundwater exploitation;
(2) Plan for regulation and distribution of water resources on river basins; restoration of deteriorated, depleted or polluted groundwater sources;
(3) Licensing of groundwater exploration and exploitation;
(4) Projects and solutions for artificial recharge of groundwater.
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