A section of the Tham Luong Canal in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Tan District is polluted by untreated wastewater

The oceans of waste being dumped into Vietnamese rivers are contaminating waterways across the country while mushrooming hydropower projects are making clean water even more scarce, scientists say.

Accordingly, the Vietnam Rivers Network (VRN) recently said that many big city rivers were being rendered unusable by rampant pollution, including the Thi Vai and Dong Nai in the southeastern region, Mekong Delta branches in the southwest and the Cau, Nhue, Day and Hong rivers in the north.

Experts at a VRN conference on Oct. 31 also warned that the construction of several dams as well as sand exploitation had increased pollution and worsened water shortages in the lowlands.

Nguyen Xuan Vinh from the Institute for Tropical Biology said more dams set for the Dong Nai River would change its natural course and harm entire ecosystems.

Jake Brunner, International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) program coordinator for Vietnam, said water quality in several major rivers, including the Dong Nai, was “bad” and getting worse.

“Dirty rivers have a direct impact on communities who live along them and depend on them for water, cooking, transport, and other goods and services. These communities are often among the poorest groups of society,” he told Thanh Nien Weekly via email.

Well running dry

The National Water Resources Council has warned that the global climate change will lead to a decline in water resources in Vietnam.

The total volume of surface water in 2025, 2070 and 2100 is forecast be around 96 percent, 91 percent and 86 percent respectively of today’s quantity, according to the agency’s National Water Resources Strategy.

The current average per capita surface water available in Vietnam is about 3,840 cubic meters per year while International Water Resources Association (IWRA) has said that nations with average per capita water availability lower than 4,000 cubic meters per year are considered nations with inadequate water supplies.

Unacceptable tradeoff

Brunner said the major causes of water pollution in Vietnam were industrial zones and craft villages.

“Vietnam doesn’t have to accept a tradeoff between clean rivers and jobs,” he said.

“Major river basins like the Dong Nai need river basin organizations with the power to coordinate and scrutinize water development projects and to make sure that the cumulative long term costs are understood and weighed against the benefits.”

Brunner also suggested stricter enforcement to force companies to invest in wastewater treatment and other clean technologies.

“The government therefore needs to put in place the regulations, incentives, and information that encourage companies to invest and innovate,” he said.

Reported by Minh Hung