The government seeks input from community representatives and relevant organizations and individuals on the impact of water extraction projects. |
The government has issued Decree No. 54/2024/ND-CP, dated May 16, 2024, regulating groundwater drilling practices, declarations, registrations, licensing, water resource services, and water resource exploitation rights fees.
According to the decree, the government requires input from community representatives and relevant organizations and individuals on the potential impact of water extraction projects.
Specifically, this includes representatives of water user communities as defined by the Law on Water Resources, such as village, ward, or neighborhood leaders, as well as representatives agreed upon by the community, the People’s Committee at the communal level, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the communal level, the People’s Committee at the district level, and water management and operation units that may be affected by the water extraction project.
Water extraction projects with significant potential impact on socio-economic development and the livelihoods of the people in the project area must obtain input from community representatives. These projects include:
1. Reservoirs and dams constructed on rivers, streams, canals, ditches, or ravines.
2. Structures that block rivers, streams, canals, ditches, or ravines, excluding those mentioned in point a, for the purpose of water creation, salinity prevention, flood control, or landscape creation.
3. Surface water extraction projects with a capacity of 10 m3/second or more for agricultural or aquaculture purposes; or 300,000 m3/day or more for domestic, commercial, service, or production purposes (including water used for cooling, humidification, or heating), and construction work.
4. Groundwater extraction projects with a capacity of 12,000 m3/day or more.
The decree states that the timing of seeking input should be before the construction of the project and no later than 12 months from the submission of the application for a surface water extraction license for cases 1, 2, and 3 mentioned above.
For case 4, the input should be sought during the exploration phase.
According to the decree, the organization or individual investing in the project may combine the process of seeking input from community representatives and relevant organizations and individuals on the impact of water extraction projects with the process of seeking input for environmental impact assessment in accordance with environmental protection laws. However, the timing and content of the input must comply with the regulations specified in this decree.
The information provided for the input process should include:
– General information about the project, including implementation and progress plans, along with relevant legal documents related to project investment and construction, and the expected timeline for water exploitation.
– A description of the project’s water resource exploitation plan, including all information specified in Clause 1, Article 4 of this decree.
– Anticipated impacts and mitigation measures related to the operation of the water extraction project on water sources, the environment, water users, and other potentially affected entities during the construction and operation of the project.
This decree takes effect on July 1, 2024.
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