Fostering sustainable groundwater governance in Viet Nam

While the new law covers all water resources, CMDA focuses on groundwater, which plays a critical in the Mekong Delta. Groundwater is vital for domestic, agricultural, and industrial needs, particularly in the dry season. But threats to this hidden resource are increasing due to climate change, over-extraction, and contamination, making effective groundwater management more urgent than ever.

To help address these problems, the government enacted Water Resources Law No. 28/2023/QH15 in July 2024. The law prioritises the protection of both surface and groundwater. The workshop was an opportunity to disseminate the new law and its four key pillars: (1) Water security, (2) Socializing the water sector, (3) Water economics, and (4) Protecting water resources from misuse.

Law on Water Resources - English version © IUCN Viet Nam

The workshop discussed groundwater's critical role in transboundary water management in the Mekong Delta including:

• Groundwater extraction and protection: shared the status of groundwater use in the Mekong Delta, highlighting the pressures of over-extraction.

• Legal mechanisms: discussed the legal protections introduced by Law 28/2023/QH15 to ensure sustainable groundwater use.

• Collaborative management: the importance of joint efforts between Viet Nam and Cambodia to safeguard the shared aquifer.

IUCN’s Bob Bower, CMDA Chief Technical Advisor, introduced the CMDA project and highlighted Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) as one of the solutions being assessed for its scalability in safeguarding groundwater resources. 

MAR is a proven solution to enhance groundwater recharge, improve and protect water quality, manage the impacts of groundwater abstraction and increasing water scarcity driven by climate change. Bob gave an overview of how MAR can help to physically improve recharge to aquifers and will be explored as part of the CMDA project. 

Bob also stressed the importance of international technical support and transboundary cooperation between Cambodia and Viet Nam in implementing these practices and building resilience to the effects of climate change.

The workshop marked an important step in strengthening Viet Nam’s national and transboundary water governance systems, with groundwater playing a central role in the future of water resource management. 

Participants took a group photo at the conference © IUCN Viet Nam