by Piyaporn Hawiset
20 February 2000
Vietnam consumes annuallly between 20 percent and 30 percent of its total 880 billion cubic metres of water. Only 53 percent of the urban population were supplied with clean water and about 40 percent of the rural population had access to safe water in 1998. Despite its poverty, this is a pretty good statistic compared to even countries like Thailand which are technologically and economically many times more advanced. However, as elsewhere in the region, there is an increasingly inefficient exploitation and management of water resources which needs to be addressed as soon as possible if Vietnam is not to fall onto the same serious problems experienced in Thailand and Indonesia.
The exploitation of underground water in urban areas and residential quarters has lowered the level of underground water, polluted water sources, and brought about landslides in some localities. Worse still, old and damaged water pipes caused the loss of about 50 percent of clean water and degraded the drainage system in urban centres, thus making some areas waterlogged during the rainy season.
Shortage of water in dry season was a problem in many localities, especially in the central coastal provinces, the Central Highlands, East of Nam Bo (southern Vietnam) and West of Bac Bo (northern Vietnam) in 1997 and 1998. Projects such as the Asian Development Bank-financed Irrigation and Flood Protection Rehabilitation Project in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces will help alleviate this problem somewhat.
The development of aquaculture also seriously contaminated water sources as appropriate scientific and technological measures were not taken. Almost all surveyed rivers and coastline points across the country showed chemical contamination. To ease the situation, Vietnam is building up standards on waste, developing regulations on environmental protection in industrial zones, and cleaning a number of rivers.
Particularly, Vietnam's National Assembly at its sixth session of the 10th legislature in December 1999 discussed measures to protect and rationally exploit water sources, policies on practising thrift in water usage, and treatment of liquid waste.
Many international organizations and foreign countries have helped Vietnam upgrade drainage systems. They have invested billions of US dollars in upgrading and building water treatment and drainage systems in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City under programs on providing safe water in rural areas and environmental sanitation as well as enhancing education on safe water supply.