The Water Resources Law (amended) project was submitted to the National Assembly by the Government according to Dispatch No. 37/2023 dated February 17, 2023, consisting of 10 chapters and 88 articles, essentially retaining the same number of chapters as the 2012 Water Resources Law. It retains 10 articles, revises and supplements 62 articles, introduces 16 new articles, and abolishes 8 articles.

According to Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan from the Binh Duong Provincial Delegation, it is necessary to unify the concept of "water resources" and consider renaming the Water Resources Law to the Water Management Law to better align with the actual adjustments of the law. Water resources are a very broad concept, affecting and appearing in all aspects of social life and economic sectors with various functions. Therefore, no ministry or sector can manage all aspects that water encompasses or participate in the production process, with each ministry or sector managing its respective field. For example, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment manages irrigation and drainage, while the Ministry of Construction manages water for domestic use, etc. These areas are governed by different specialized laws.

According to Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan, the provisions of this law mainly address the management and protection of water resources in the first stage, meaning natural water sources without influencing the specific activities of other sectors. For example, this law ensures the provision of clean water for sanitation and then requires that after use, the water must be cleaned before being discharged into the environment (regeneration). Thus, this law only ensures the proper management of natural water sources such as rivers, streams, canals, and groundwater, as described in Section 2, Article 3 of the Draft Law. Therefore, calling it the Water Management Law is the most accurate term.

PV