Decision No. 2502/QD-TTg dated December 22, 2016, approving adjustments to the development orientations for water supply for urban areas and industrial parks through 2025, with a vision toward 2050

DECISION

APPROVING ADJUSTMENTS TO THE DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATIONS FOR WATER SUPPLY FOR URBAN AREAS AND INDUSTRIAL PARKS THROUGH 2025, WITH A VISION TOWARD 2050

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the June 18, 2014 Law on Construction;

Pursuant to the June 21, 2012 Law on Water Resources;

Pursuant to the Government s Decree No. 117/2007/ND-CP of July 11, 2007, on clean water production, supply and consumption; Decree No. 124/2011/ND-CP of December 28, 2011, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government's Decree No. 117/2007/ND-CP of July 11, 2007, on clean water production, supply and consumption;

At the proposal of the Minister of Construction,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve adjustments to the development orientations for water supply for urban areas and industrial parks through 2025, with a vision toward 2050, with the following contents:

I. VIEWPOINTS

1. Water supply is a conditional production and business activity to be controlled by the State for the purpose of community health protection and social welfare, taking into consideration support for the poor and exceptionally disadvantaged areas.

2. To develop sustainable water supply activities, ensure secure water supply in response to climate change, meet the demand for clean water for socio-economic development and improvement of quality of life.

3. To exploit, produce and supply clean water regardless of administrative boundaries, prioritize the exploitation of surface water sources and incrementally reduce the exploitation of groundwater for supply to daily-life activities of the community.

4. To encourage reasonable and economical use of clean water and re-use of water for other purposes.

5. To apply scientific advances and advanced, energy-efficient and environment- friendly technologies; to gradually modernize and automatize the water supply sector to ensure stable and sufficient supply of quality water according to regulations.

6. To socialize the water supply sector, mobilizing and making the most use of all resources for water supply development and management and operation of water supply works.

II. OBJECTIVES

1. Goal:

To set development orientations for water supply for urban areas and industrial parks to meet people’s essential needs and national industrialization and modernization requirements, for use as the basis for determining specific solutions in response to climate change for stable supply of quality water and good services to meet water use demands in each period.

2. Objectives and targets to 2020:

- The coverage of clean water supply services from centralized water supply systems in urban areas of grade IV or higher grades will reach 95%, and in grade-V urban areas, 80%, with the per capita water supply standard of 120 liters per day and water quality up to technical regulations; water will be sufficiently supplied with required pressure and volume to industrial parks.

- The rate of water supply systems in urban areas making and implementing secure water supply plans will reach 45%; the rate of clean water loss and water charge loss will be under 18% in urban areas of grade IV or higher grades, and under 25% in grade-V urban areas; water will be supplied uninterruptedly 24 hours a day with required pressure in urban areas of grade IV or higher grades and supplied according to actual demands and conditions in grade-V urban areas.

3. Objectives and targets to 2025:

- The coverage of clean water supply services from centralized water supply systems in urban areas of grade IV or higher grades will reach 100%, with the per capita water supply standard of 120 liters per day and water quality up to technical regulations; water will be sufficiently supplied with required pressure and volume to industrial parks.

- The rate of water supply systems in urban areas making and implementing secure water supply plans will reach 75%; the rate of clean water loss and water charge loss will be under 15% in urban areas; water will be supplied uninterruptedly 24 hours a day with required pressure.

4. Vision toward 2050:

To meet all demands and ensure secure water supply for daily-life and production activities in urban areas, concentrated residential areas and industrial parks.

Article 2. Implementation solutions

1. To complete regulations on management of the water supply sector

- To study and propose basic contents for making a Water Supply Law.

- To amend, supplement or replace Decree No. 117/2007/ND-CP of July 11, 2007, and Decree No. 124/2011/ND-CP of December 28, 2011, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 117/2007/ND-CP of July 11, 2007, on clean water production, supply and consumption, taking into consideration support for areas with difficult water sources and affected by climate change.

- To review and synchronously adjust standards and technical regulations of the water supply sector in response to climate change impacts, keeping up with scientific and technological advances and ensuring secure water supply.

- To develop and promulgate regulations on capacity conditions for water supply system investors and operators.

- For industrial parks having their own water supply plants, to study and apply a mechanism for price subsidy of water for urban daily-life activities in localities.

2. To plan, invest in, develop, manage and operate water supply systems:

- To organize the elaboration or adjustment or supplementation of master plans on inter-provincial and provincial-level water supply to respond to climate change and ensure secure water supply.

- To develop water supply for urban areas in combination with water supply for concentrated rural residential areas and industrial parks in localities; to prioritize construction of inter-provincial water supply works.

- To invest in synchronous construction of work supply facilities from water sources, water treatment to water supply pipeline networks with advanced equipment and application of information technology in the operation management and monitoring of these works; to incrementally modernize and automate water supply systems and ensure secure water supply.

- To boost investment in water supply projects in the form of public-private partnership (PPP) and other forms suitable to each locality’s socio-economic conditions.

- To focus investment on expansion and upgrading of water supply pipeline networks, raising water supply service coverage and quality; to prioritize investment in projects on secure water supply and clean water loss control.

- To encourage the use of domestic supplies and equipment of high quality when building and upgrading water supply works.

3. To manage and use water sources in response to climate change:

- To enhance the planning of water resources; to increase the management, monitoring and protection of water sources; to closely control discharge of waste into water sources.

- To build systems of reservoirs for rainwater and surface water storage and anti- salinization and water-discharging works in response to climate change; to plan the exploitation and use of multi-purpose reservoirs, prioritizing exploitation for supply to daily-life activities.

- To reasonably exploit and use groundwater sources and incrementally reduce exploitation capacity in major urban centers such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and urban areas in the Mekong delta, etc.; to study solutions for supplementing groundwater by creating strategic reserve water sources to cope with incidents related to surface water sources, water supply systems and climate change.

- To establish systems to control and warn the quality and reserves of water sources; to study the solution of creating reserve water sources to secure water sources for water plants.

4. To study and develop water supply technologies, supplies and equipment:

- To apply information technology and smart equipment to the management and operation of water supply systems; to select advanced technologies and equipment which are highly automatized, energy- and water-efficient, environment-friendly and ensure secure water supply.

- To study and organize domestic production of high-quality supplies and equipment, ensuring supply of all types of water supplies and equipment by 2025.

- To study and apply new technologies for treating sea water and brackish water in sea water intrusion-affected areas and areas with difficult water sources; to study technologies for reusing rainwater for residential and other needs.

- To study and develop regulations on water reuse for public, business and service works and condominiums in urban areas.

5. Public information, human resource training and development

- To develop general education programs on basic knowledge on water source protection, economical use of clean water and environmental protection; to organize field visits for students and pupils to learn about clean water production and supply systems.

- To increase public information on the role, position and importance of clean water for human life; responsibilities of all organizations and individuals for protection of water sources and water supply systems and economical and efficient use of water.

- To train, and raise the quality and number of, engineers of water supply and drainage at training institutions to meet development requirements of the water supply sector.

- To consolidate and expand vocational schools and improve the quality of high- grade worker training for the water sector to meet requirements of water supply system management, operation and maintenance.

6. To organize water supply management:

- To study and develop models for construction investment management and operation of inter-provincial water supply works and works for water supply between urban and rural areas.

- To develop and gradually complete a water supply database; to prescribe the provision, sharing and use of water supply information and database.

- To establish a research institute of the water sector to meet its research, technology transfer and intensive training requirements.

7. International cooperation:

- To enhance cooperation with international organizations in water supply and capacity building training.

- To increase exchange and learning of advanced countries’ experiences in water supply and water supply system management and operation.

- To mobilize international organizations and foreign enterprises to invest in urban water supply development in Vietnam, particularly in inter-provincial water supply works.

- To expand international cooperation in research and transfer of advanced, energy- efficient and environment-friendly technologies for treating supplied water and producing water supply equipment and supplies.

Article 3. Organization of implementation

1. The Ministry of Construction shall:

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors and provincial-level People’s Committees in, implementing adjustments to the development orientations for water supply for urban areas and industrial parks through 2025, with a vision toward 2050.

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, advising the Government in studying and proposing basic contents for making the Water Supply Law and other related legal documents.

- Develop plans on human resource training and development for the water supply sector and organize their implementation.

- Review, adjust and elaborate standards and technical regulations of the water supply sector in response to climate change.

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, developing a water supply database.

2. Related ministries and sectors shall, based on their government-assigned functions and tasks, work out plans and action programs to implement adjustments to the development orientations for water supply for urban areas and industrial parks through 2025, with a vision toward 2050, and coordinate with the Ministry of Construction in implementing these programs.

3. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall:

- Work out plans for implementation of adjustments to the development orientations for water supply meeting local water supply development requirements in each period.

- Organize the elaboration, review and adjustment of provincial-level specialized water supply master plans with additional contents on climate change and secure water supply.

- Organize the implementation of water supply service agreements in order to raise responsibility for water supply investment and development and secure water supply.

- Coordinate with ministries and sectors in organizing the implementation of the national program on secure water supply during 2016-2025 and the national program on control of water loss and water charge loss to 2025 according to their competence.

- Coordinate with other localities in planning the river basin-based exploitation and protection of water sources.

- Increase inspection and examination of water supply activities and water quality for secure water supply in their localities.

- Review the demands of water supply for industrial parks in combination with water supply for production and urban daily-life activities to ensure investment efficiency of urban water supply systems. For industrial parks having their own water supply plants, study and apply the mechanism for price subsidy of water supplied to daily-life activities.

- Disseminate and raise awareness and role and responsibilities of organizations and individuals in the protection of water sources and water supply systems and economical and effective use of water.

Article 4. Effect

This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing and replaces the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1929/QD-TTg of November 20, 2009, approving development orientations for water supply for urban areas and industrial parks of Vietnam through 2025, with a vision toward 2050.

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees and related organizations and persons shall implement this Decision.-