Speaking at the conference to summarize the work in 2021 of the General Department of Water Resources on December 31, Minister Le Minh Hoan quoted the lyrics of the song "The man who built Ke Go lake" and sent a message to the engineers, those who are working in the irrigation sector should have the emotions and dreams to act stronger to bring good values to farmers and society. Thereby, it will avoid the situation of "lakes have excess water, people lack water".

“Those who are working in the irrigation should not only have the mission of building dams and lakes, but also the thinking of developing a responsible sector for the people,” Minister Hoan said.

According to him, works must be multi-valued, create landscapes to attract tourism, have added value and create jobs for people, especially ethnic minorities.

Minister Le Minh Hoan also asked the General Department of Water Resources to coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security, other ministries and sectors to deal with water pollution in many irrigation systems, especially the Bac Hung Hai system.

At the same time, it is necessary to apply science and technology to build a database for forecasting, warning and recommending local authorities to change the structure of crops and livestock accordingly.

In the context of extreme weather, rain, flood, saline intrusion, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the restructuring of the agricultural sector, in 2021 the irrigation sector has gradually innovated in the direction of smart, multi-purpose, multi-target, while ensuring safety and security of water resources.

At the conference, the delegates shared the opinion that the pollution and deterioration of water quality in the irrigation systems are becoming more and more serious. The protection of water quality in irrigation works is facing many challenges from the impact of economic development, such as the trend of changing production models, urbanization, industrialization and the development. the infrastructure, ect.

Meanwhile, we do not have enough resources to treat wastewater, waste and garbage. One more problem is that the water supply and drainage are in the same system. It is an urgent need for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to strengthen the coordination with relevant ministries and sectors to handle violations to the irrigation works, the discharge of wastewater into irrigation works, and to enhance the awareness and the compliance of sectors, organizations and individuals.

“Irrigation has made early forecasts about drought and salinity, thereby helping to manage production, especially sowing in the Mekong Delta, bring high efficiency,” said Nguyen Nhu Cuong, Director of the Department of Crop Production. The Mekong Delta is one of the area most heavily affected by climate change, so the irrigation planning for this area in the coming time must focus on solutions to cope with climate change and sea level rise.

Agreeing with Cuong’s opinion, Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Irrigation Planning, said that in the context of climate change, floods and droughts are extreme, unusual and unpredictable, the current impacts of upstream water use and forest decline, it is necessary to support localities with funds to overcome drought, saltwater intrusion, inundation and floods.

“MARD and irrigation sector should allocate appropriate investment resources to ensure water source security and safety of dams and reservoirs. To address the internal challenges of the irrigation sector, both political commitment and greater investment of resources are required,” said Thanh.

At the conference, Prof. Dr. Le Kim Truyen, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Association of Large Dams and Water Resources Development shared: One of the turning points of the irrigation secotr in recent years is the development of the Project on Water Security. This is a "new wind", creating mechanisms, policies and investment resources to develop the irrigation sector.

“Recently, we have mastered the Planning on natural disaster prevention and control and irrigation for the period of 2021 - 2025, with a vision to 2050 on a national scale. We all know that planning must go first. The closer the planning is to life, to the requirements of reality, the more it will help the irrigation sector developing strongly in the future,” said Truyen.

Translated by Khanh Linh