Vietnam Facing Severe Water Shortage due to Overexploitation

Vietnam has been officially added to the list of the nations that are facing the water shortage due to uncontrolled exploitation, experts warned. The average surface water per capita in Vietnam in 2010 was 3,850cu.m per annum. Countries are considered to lack water if the average surface water per capita is 4,000cu.m or less, in line with the standards of the International Water Resources Association IWRA, Dr Ngo Dinh Tuan, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Water Resources and Environment in East Asia, said. Dr Bui Cong Quang from the Water Resources University said if referring to the aforesaid standards, with the current population and development, Dong Nai river basin and the basins of the rivers in the southeastern region are facing occasional water shortage, while Red, Ma and Con rivers in the north are nearly approaching the water shortfall level. The massive exploitation of water resources has been blamed on the serious shortage, experts said, adding that the overexploitation has gone beyond the withstanding of the ecological system. Do Hong Phan, Chief Advisor of the Vietnam Water Network, said that most of the river basin committees, which have been set up in the country, have not played any role in the coordination and control of water exploitation. Phan added the Environment Protection Committee of Dong Nai River Basin Planning and the Management Board of Dong Nai River Basin are jointly responsible for Dong Nai river management in the south, but they have been operating separately from each other. That explains why they keep different viewpoints on the treatment to Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A hydropower plant projects. On most of the river valleys in the southeastern region, more than 75% of water volume in the dry season is exploited. As for Ma river basin, the rate is up to 80%. The proportions show that the chaotic overexploitation has created the unsustainability to the valleys. Vietnam is estimated to consume some 80.6 billion cu.m of water per year for different purposes. The volume of water to be used by 2020 is likely to rise by 48%, or 120 billion cu.m. The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) earlier warned that around 8.4 million Vietnamese people or 9.66% of its population will likely to suffer from water shortfall by 2050. (vietnamnet.vn Nov 8)