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Water Governance Under Renovation? Concepts and Practices of IWRM in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

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Book cover The Mekong Delta System

Part of the book series: Springer Environmental Science and Engineering ((SPRINGERENVIRON))

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to explore Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) practices in Vietnam. Based on intensive empirical research in the Mekong Delta, the daily reality of water resources management is investigated in several sub-sectors. It will be shown that water management practices deviate to a large extent from the existing legal frameworks, policies and strategies commonly based on IWRM principles. It will be argued that the gap between official policy and actual practices is not the outcome of lacking capacity or resource scarcity, as often assumed in donor and government reports. Rather, it is a result of the peculiar structural features of the contemporary state in Vietnam.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Approved by the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 81/2006/QD-TTg on 14.04.2006.

  2. 2.

    While the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) adheres to the Sino-Vietnamese term ‘thủy lợi’, the more recently established Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) purposely avoids the traditional terminology and uses ‘tài nguyên nước’ to describe its tasks and responsibilities. As a result, the deep friction between the two ministries, whose tasks have been shifted and redefined, finds a wording expression (Molle and Hoanh 2008:31).

  3. 3.

    Borrowed from Molle et al. (2009:332).

  4. 4.

    By the mid 1980s, Vietnam faced rapid economic meltdown due to the failure of the centralised and subsidised system of a command economy the socialist government had been adhering to since 1954. In response to this severe crisis, the Vietnamese government reconsidered the country’s economic system and, eventually, promulgated the Renovation Policy (Chính sách Đổi mới) in 1986 (the Sixth Party Congress) as a paradigm change towards economic liberalisation and integration.

  5. 5.

    “Socialisation” (xã hội hóa) implies the outsourcing of former state functions to non-state entities, mainly to the private sector, households and civic organisations.

  6. 6.

    Decree No. 25/2008/ND-CP promulgated by the Government on March 04, 2008 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organisational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

  7. 7.

    The concept of ‘everyday politics’ is borrowed from, and refers to, the work of Kerkvliet (2003, 2005). It considers the relationship and interactions between people (society) and state (at local level). According to the author, and despite the prevalence of top-down approaches, people have the capacity and means to influence policy practices substantially through their daily actions. ‘Everyday politics’ is an arena where people and the state meet to negotiate and bargain over policy implementation, and where people silently and subliminally can oppose and change policies by their collective actions. Since those who represent the state (state officials/cadres) are also part of the society, it is difficult to distinguish clearly between state and society. Consequently, this concept even matters for grasping local-central government relations.

  8. 8.

    Đảng lãnh đạo, Nhà nước quản lý, Nhân dân làm chủ.

  9. 9.

    A managerial bureaucratic administration based on meritocratic ideals of statehood (mandarinate) and rule (rule of the talented) emerged early in Vietnamese history and derived from the Chinese model of administration and Confucian ethics. State officials (mandarins) were recruited through examination, in which candidates had to prove their ability to govern. Socio-economic deficiencies such as poverty and economic downturn were considered failures of state politics (Woodside: 24 f., 30, 59). These traditional Confucian ideals are still inherent in the Vietnamese conception of statehood and bureaucratic state management, which reflects that beneath the surface of Leninism/Socialism traditional-Confucian notions of rule and governance prevail (Dao Minh Chau 1996; Luttmer 2000).

  10. 10.

    Phép vua thua lệ làng.

  11. 11.

    This section of the article is basically taken from Waibel (2010:34–37).

  12. 12.

    “The law does not, however, provide for the establishment of river basin organisations, as various donors stated in their documents” (Molle & Hoanh 2008:23, FN 28).

  13. 13.

    While the ADB was engaged in the Red River and the Dong Nai Basin Development, the Australian government assisted the Mekong Basin. DANIDA and other bilateral cooperation agencies also played an important role.

  14. 14.

    Decree No. 120/2008/ND-CP, issued by the Government on December 01, 2008, regulating river basin management. This decree was urgently needed because river basin management was omitted in two decrees issued in 2008, revising and clarifying the functions, tasks and responsibilities of MARD (Decree No. 01/2008/ND-CP of January 03, 2008) and MONRE (Decree No. 28/2008/ND-CP of March 04, 2008).

  15. 15.

    A first evaluation (water sector review) in 1996 drew the following picture (World Bank et al. 1996:45 f.): River basin master plans for the national segments of the Mekong Delta (1993) and the Red River Delta (1995) were completed and three more were in preparation. All existing plans had been prepared by different ministries, and inconsistencies with other plans, affecting water allocation and use, were detected. With regard to water resources management at a sub-basin or basin-scale, no formal agreements among provinces existed (World Bank et al. 1996:43).

  16. 16.

    For example, according to the results of a survey analysing the environmental consequences of fish breeding systems, 60.2% of respondents answered that they discharge wastewater into public water sources, while the rest (39.8%) dump it on private land (Vo Thi Lang et al. 2009: 21).

  17. 17.

    DONRE operates at three administrative levels. It was established as a specialised organisation under the People’s Committee (PC), assisting the PC to implement its state management tasks on water and mineral resources, land, geology, environment, hydrometeorology and cartography. DONRE’s offices are accountable for state management of the environment, water resources, mineral resources, land and sea, as well as island issues in urban and rural districts. At communal level, civil servants in charge of land and construction issues shall also be responsible for environmental issues, as well as mediation in environmental disputes (Joint Circular No. 03/2008/TTLT-BTNMT-BNV, PC’s Decision No. 30/2008/QD-UBND, and PC’s Decision No. 08/2009/QD-UBND).

  18. 18.

    Content is based on preliminary research findings of the WISDOM project; forthcoming in 2012.

  19. 19.

    Such practices were revealed by the head of the Environmental Police, Can Tho City in his presentation “Enforcement mechanisms for environmental regulations in Vietnam”, held at the “Workshop on Waste Water Management in Industrial Zones – Challenges and Solutions”, Can Tho City, 2nd March 2011 and by a German expert on industrial waste water management, who works in a project in Tra Noc Industrial Zone, Can Tho City (personal communication, 04.11.2011).

  20. 20.

    Approved by the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 237/1998/QD-TTg of December 03, 1998.

  21. 21.

    CERWASS  =  Centre for Rural Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation. CERWASS is an agency under the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and MARD for the national scale.

  22. 22.

    In the period from 2000 to 2010, the Vietnamese government invested a total of 2.8 billion USD into the preservation and construction of its hydraulic infrastructure (including hydropower plants) and, according to the next 5-year plan, investment is expected to grow (Benedikter 2010).

  23. 23.

    Examples are Nam Măng Thít, Ô Môn – Xà No, Bắc Vàm Nao and Quản Lộ – Phụng Hiệp.

  24. 24.

    Circular 43/1984/TC-TTLB issued jointly by the Ministry of Water and the Ministry of Finance (1984); Decree No. 143/2003/ND-CP issued by the Government on November 28, 2003 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Ordinance on the exploitation and protection of irrigation works.

  25. 25.

    Ô Môn – Xà No was appraised as inappropriate and environmentally problematic by local authorities in Can Tho City and elsewhere in the project region (interviews 2009). According to the authorities, the sluice gates were too narrowly constructed and therefore water inflow into the scheme was constrained. This causes severe water pollution problems, accelerates sedimentation, creates higher levels of acidity and severs water scarcity during the dry season (no flushing possible).When sluices are closed, boat traffic is hampered, which causes additional costs for agricultural good transportation. In a similar way, local newspapers argued, when they cynically assessed the schemes as a “Red River design project” imposed to the Mekong Delta. Between the lines, critics targeted both the wrong design by northern engineers and central government’s domination in the implementation process (Tuoi Tre Newspaper 14.04.2008, Tuoi Tre Newspaper 27.02.2008, Can Tho Newspaper 27.02.2008).

  26. 26.

    Equitisation (cổ phần hóa) describes the Vietnamese way of privatising state-owned enterprises by converting them into joint-stock companies.

  27. 27.

    Granted by the International Development Association (IDA) in the form of project aid and budget support.

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Acknowledgements

The findings presented herein result from the joint effort of a number of researchers involved in the WISDOM (Water Related Information System for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam) project. It strongly draws on empirical research mainly conducted in 2008–2010 in Can Tho City. The authors would like to thank its scientific partner in the Mekong Delta, the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute (MDI) of Can Tho University, for its strong academic and administrative support. Furthermore, a number of staff from local state agencies and other relevant organisations in Can Tho City and beyond offered their time and patience and responded to the many questions which emerged during the field work. We also owe our gratitude to the many farmers, entrepreneurs and household representatives who participated in personal interviews and surveys and shared their knowledge and individual perceptions with the researchers. At ZEF, Serge Birtel helped in meeting the editor’s demands for correct citation and layout.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Walter-Flex-Str. 3, 53113, Bonn, Germany

    Gabi Waibel, Simon Benedikter, Nadine Reis, Sven Genschick & Loan Nguyen

  2. Mekong Delta Development Research Institute, Can Tho University, 3/2 Street, Can Tho City, Vietnam

    Pham Cong Huu

  3. Can Tho City Institute for Socio-Economic Development Studies (CIDS), 02 Hoa Binh Avenue, Can Tho City, Vietnam

    Tran Thanh Be

Authors
  1. Gabi Waibel
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  2. Simon Benedikter
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  3. Nadine Reis
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  4. Sven Genschick
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  5. Loan Nguyen
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  6. Pham Cong Huu
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  7. Tran Thanh Be
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Correspondence to Gabi Waibel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Institute for Environment and Human, United Nations University, Hermann-Ehlers-Str. 10, Bonn, 53113, Germany

    Fabrice G. Renaud

  2. , Earth Observation Center, EOC, German Aerospace Center, DLR, ---, Oberpfaffenhofen, Wessling, 82234, Germany

    Claudia Kuenzer

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Waibel, G. et al. (2012). Water Governance Under Renovation? Concepts and Practices of IWRM in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. In: Renaud, F., Kuenzer, C. (eds) The Mekong Delta System. Springer Environmental Science and Engineering. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3962-8_6

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