60 percent of water for Vietnam outside Vietnamese territory | Look At Vietnam

60 percent of water for Vietnam outside Vietnamese territory

February 26, 2012

LookAtVietnam – Shocking information has been released by competent
agencies: 60 percent of the water resources for Vietnam are sourced from the
areas outside the Vietnamese territory.

Vietnam is in the tropical country with scorching sun and much rain. In the
thoughts of Vietnamese people, Vietnam has endless water resources. Water can be
seen everywhere in the Vietnamese territory, especially on the plains and
riparian areas, near the sea.
However, this is just a “feeling.” In fact, 60 percent of the water resources
for Vietnam have been relying on the sources outside the Vietnamese territory.
The total surface water reserves in Vietnam are bout 830 billion cubic meters,
which can sufficiently satisfy the demand for people’s livelihood and production
development. The surface water reserves come from two different sources, from
the rain water on the Vietnamese territory, the rain water from neighboring
countries flowing to Vietnam.
The former source makes up 37 percent of the total water resources, while the
latter more than 60 percent. As such, in fact, local surface water is just
enough to satisfy 40 percent of the demand, while the other 60 percent is met by
the water resources outside Vietnam.
Scientists have also pointed out the big difference between the north and the
south. On the Red River Basin in the north, the ratio of domestically sourced
water on imported water is 50:50. In the south (the Mekong River), inland water
resources accounts for 10 percent only, while the other 90 percent come from
“foreign sources.”
Supposed that one day, for some reasons, the water resources outside the
territory are blocked; the localities within the Mekong Delta basin would fall
into the state of lacking capital.
The Mekong Delta is the rice granary of the whole country with the land and
human resources purely Vietnamese, but 90 percent of water resources depend on
the sources outside the territory. In agriculture production, water is the most
important factor (the second important is fertilizer, followed by diligence and
seeds). Meanwhile, the self-sufficient level of the delta in water is modest
just 10 percent.
By releasing the report about the water resources, scientists have tried to
persuade individuals and institutions to waste water. Saving water can bring
double benefit.
Bad consequences from the climate changes have been warned by scientists, who
said that in such a context, saving water is a necessity.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment’s monitoring
report (MONRE) showed that the water environment is seriously polluted. Not only
the surface water (at ponds, lakes, rivers and streams), but underground and
rain water have also got polluted for many reasons, according to Dr Le Thuong
Man, Deputy Chair of the HCM City Chemical Association.
Meanwhile, Saigon Tiep Thi has cited its sources as reporting that the
underground water in HCM City has got more seriously polluted in heavy metal.
The heavy metal concentration has increased over the lost year on some areas in
the suburbs, including golf courses, districts 2, 12, and Thu Duc and Cu Chi.
At Pleistocen underground water layer, the main source of running water for the
HCM City, the pH concentration and Coliform do not meet the standards on the
majority of monitoring areas, mostly in the suburb districts. Besides, the
pollution level due to organic waste of the underground water in crowded
residential quarters has also increased alarmingly.
The project funded by the Spanish government has also rung the alarm bell over
the quality of the water of Saigon River, saying that the river has got more
polluted because of too many “black waste resources.”
Source: Dai doan ket, SGTT