Chương IV Luật thủy lợi 2017: Quản lý, khai thác công trình thủy lợi và vận hành hồ chứa thủy điện phục vụ thủy lợi

Chapter IV

MANAGEMENT, OPERATION OR UTILIZATION OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS AND OPERATION OF HYDROPOWER RESERVOIRS FOR WATER USES

Section 1. MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS

Article 19. Principles of management and operation of irrigation projects

1. Carry out consistent management practices based on the system of irrigation projects and apply these practices to central irrigation projects through inter-field ones; match objectives and functions of the system, and satisfy requirements concerning volume and quality of water for production, personal and domestic uses and for industrial consumption in various economic sectors.

2. Comply with operational procedures approved by relevant competent authorities; prepare contingency plans for response to natural disasters.

3. Ensure fair distribution of benefits, sharing of risks and restriction on adverse effects on other related regions; promote effectiveness in general operation and utilization of irrigation projects, and take advantage of multipurpose characteristics of irrigation systems.

4. Call for involvement of users of irrigation products and services as well as interested parties in management and operation of irrigation projects.

5. Apply high and advanced technologies to management, operation and utilization of irrigation projects.

Article 20. Activities of management, operation and exploitation or utilization of irrigation projects

1. Water management shall mainly focus on the following activities:

a) Collect hydro-meteorological forecasting information; carry out purpose-made hydro-meteorological measurements or observations at their basins; conduct observation, forecast and give sufficient warnings of flood, inundation, waterlogging, drought, water shortage, saltwater intrusion, water volume and quality; make an inventory of water sources within a system of irrigation works and facilities, and an analysis of water consumption demands;

b) Establish and undertake activities necessary for implementation of the plan for water retention, storage, regulation, transfer, distribution, supply, crop irrigation, water drainage and consumption; control water quality and saltwater intrusion; carry out plans for response to natural disasters;

c) Protect environment and quality of water existing inside the perimeter of irrigation projects; inspect and control discharge of sewage or wastewater into irrigation projects;

d) Establish and archive technical documents related to management and distribution of water within a system of irrigation works or facilities.

2. Management of irrigation works or facilities shall mainly focus on the following activities:

a) Measure, observe, monitor, inspect, audit and assess safety of irrigation projects;

b) Manage, conduct maintenance, investment in improvement, construction, modernization of, and deal with and correct any failure or breakdown that may happen to, irrigation projects as well as machinery and equipment thereof; mark the boundary of irrigation projects for security purposes;

c) Make a request to relevant competent authorities to grant their approval and conduct actions specified in the plan for response to natural disaster and the plan for protection of irrigation projects;

d) Establish and archive technical documents related to management of irrigation works or facilities.

3. Economic management of irrigation works or facilities shall mainly focus on the following activities:

a) Conduct establishment, validation and release within appropriate jurisdiction or make a request to relevant competent authorities for their validation and release or approval of application of economic and technical norms to serve the purpose of management and operation of irrigation projects;

b) Conduct formulation and implementation of the plan to supply irrigation products and services;

c) Conclude, carry out the acceptance testing of and discharge contracts for supply and consumption of irrigation products and services;

d) Create the proper organizational model for management, operation and protection of designated irrigation projects and resources;

dd) Make a regular report on evaluation of effectiveness in management, operation and protection of irrigation projects; draw up and conduct implementation of the plan for general operation of irrigation projects and expansion of the scope of services to be rendered with a view to developing capacity of irrigation projects;

e) Establish and archive asset and financial management documents or records.

Article 21. Responsibilities for management of irrigation projects

1. Responsibilities for management of state-funded irrigation projects shall be subject to the following provisions:

a) The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall manage irrigation projects of special importance, those of which operation and protection involve at least 02 provinces;

b) The provincial-level People’s Committee shall manage or vest the district-level People's Committee with the authority to manage irrigation projects located within its local jurisdiction, based on specific local conditions, unless otherwise prescribed by Point a of this Clause.

2. Organizations or individuals putting their own investment in irrigation projects shall be charged with managing these projects.

Article 22. Responsibilities assumed by owners or operators of irrigation projects

1. Responsibilities assumed by owners or operators of irrigation projects shall be prescribed as follows:

a) Exercise rights and responsibilities legally assigned to owners of irrigation projects;

b) Provide a sufficient amount of finances for maintenance, investment in improvement, construction, modernization of, and handling and correction of any failure or breakdown that may happen to, irrigation projects; marking of the boundary of irrigation projects for security purposes and solutions to increasing effectiveness in management and operation of irrigation projects.

2. Responsibilities assumed by managers of irrigation projects shall be prescribed as follows:

a) Manage operation and protection of irrigation projects where appropriate to their designed objectives and functions, potentials and advantages;

b) Select and contract organizations or individuals obtaining permission for operation of irrigation projects; monitor supply and use of irrigation products and services;

c) Take charge of investigation and assessment of effectiveness in management and operation of irrigation projects on a quinquennial or unscheduled basis; grant decisions under their delegated authority or request owners to make their decisions on improvement, construction, modernization and solutions to increasing effectiveness in management and operation of irrigation projects on the basis of results of such investigation and assessment;

d) Take on other duties as prescribed by applicable laws.

Article 23. Conduct and method of exploitation or utilization of irrigation projects

1. Hosts of exploitation or utilization of irrigation works or facilities shall comprise:

a) Enterprises;

b) Grassroots-level irrigation institutions;

c) Individuals.

2. Organizations or individuals obtaining permission for exploitation or utilization of irrigation projects shall satisfy regulatory conditions imposed by the Government.

3. Entities charged with managing irrigation projects, referred to in Clause 1 Article 21 hereof, shall decide the method for exploitation or utilization of state-funded irrigation projects as follows:

a) Authority to manage and exploit or utilize large-scale irrigation projects or those of special importance shall be accorded to state enterprises and shall be offered throughout the commissioning or duty assignment processes;

b) Authority to manage and exploit or utilize irrigation projects other than those stipulated by Point a of this Clause shall be offered throughout the procurement or commissioning processes.

4. Organizations or individuals putting their own investment in irrigation projects shall be entitled to decide which method of exploitation or utilization thereof is applied.

Section 2. OPERATION OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS AND HYDROPOWER RESERVOIRS FOR WATER USES

Article 24. Processes for operation of irrigation projects

1. Organizations or individuals obtaining permission for exploitation or utilization of irrigation projects shall operate these projects in compliance with processes approved by relevant regulatory authorities.

2. Responsibilities for establishing and revising processes for operation of irrigation projects shall be prescribed as follows:

a) The investor in irrigation projects shall establish operational processes and request relevant regulatory authorities for approval prior to commencement of operation;

b) With respect to irrigation projects that are currently exploited or utilized without operational processes, organizations or individuals obtaining permission for exploitation or utilization of irrigation projects shall have the burden of preparing their operational processes for submission to relevant regulatory authorities to apply for approval of these processes;

c) With respect to irrigation projects that are currently exploited or utilized in conformity with outdated operational processes, individuals obtaining permission for exploitation or utilization of irrigation projects shall have the burden of revising their operational processes and submitting revised processes to relevant regulatory authorities to apply for their approval of these processes.

3. Authority to approve and publish the processes for operation of irrigation projects shall be subject to the following provisions:

a) The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development approves and releases the processes for operation of irrigation projects managed by itself;

b) The provincial-level People’s Committee approves or vests the district-level People’s Committee with delegated authority to approve or release the processes for operation of irrigation projects that fall under its remit, except those specified by Point a of this Clause and Clause 4 of this Article.

4. Organizations or individuals obtaining permission for direct exploitation or utilization small-scale irrigation projects shall have the burden of establishing and releasing operational processes on their own.

5. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shall provide detailed regulations of this Article.

Article 25. Operation and utilization of irrigation projects for agricultural production purposes

1. Irrigation projects for the purpose of irrigation and water drainage for concentrated rice monocropping fields shall be operated proactively and in a manner that water volume and quality must be assured, and advanced, modern, cost-efficient and effective technical procedures for agricultural production must be applied.

2. Irrigation works or facilities for irrigation or water drainage of upland crops shall be operated in conformity with the following requirements:

a) Crop irrigation and water drainage are carried out in a proactive manner, water volume and quality are assured, and advanced, modern, cost-efficient and effective technical procedures for agricultural production are applied for concentrated cropping areas or cropping areas where rice cultivation fields are converted into upland crop cultivation fields;

b) High and advanced technologies are applied; irrigation technologies appropriate for specific crops are used for saving of water; advanced irrigation practices are duly combined with advanced cropping methods.

3. Irrigation works or facilities for supply and drainage of water for aquacultural production purposes shall be operated in conformity with the following requirements:

a) Water supply and drainage systems get ready for use and meet advanced and modern technical procedures for aquacultural production at intensive aquaculture concentrated areas;

b) Volume and quality of water supplies meet regulations applied for intensive aquaculture concentrated areas;

c) High and advanced technologies are applied for supply and utilization of water for aquacultural production purposes.

4. Operation and utilization of irrigation projects for crop irrigation, supply and drainage of water for other agricultural production purposes shall conform to requirements that water volume and quality must be assured, water must be used in an efficient and effective manner, and demands of different classes of water consumers must be satisfied.

Article 26. Operation of irrigation projects in case of drought, water shortage, saltwater intrusion, flood, inundation or waterlogging

1. Managers of irrigation projects shall be responsible for establishing the plan for response to drought, water shortage, saltwater intrusion, flood, inundation or waterlogging that may occur within localities where these projects are located.

2. In case of drought, water shortage, saltwater intrusion, flood, inundation or waterlogging that may occur, irrigation projects shall be operated subject to the following provisions:

a) Operate under the decision issued by relevant competent authorities in charge of irrigation;

b) In case of drought or water shortage emergencies, supply of water for personal and domestic uses and urgent agricultural demands shall be prioritized;

c) In case of saltwater intrusion emergency, solutions to mitigating adverse impacts on human activities or to satisfying urgent production needs or environmental requirements shall be adopted;

d) In case of flood, inundation or waterlogging emergencies, safety for irrigation projects during their operation shall be assured, and other actions to respond to such emergencies must be taken to mitigate loss of life and property.

Article 27. Operation of dams and reservoirs

1. Organizations or individuals obtaining permission for exploitation of dams and reservoirs shall assume the following responsibilities:

a) Operate them in conformity with reservoir or inter-reservoir operation processes approved by relevant regulatory authorities;

b) Consult hydro-meteorological forecasts, specialized hydro-meteorological observation data and other relevant information to predict and operate reservoirs in response to practical situations to match water consumption and dam safety demands;

c) Regularly make an inventory of water resources retained in reservoirs, and a forecast of drought, water shortage and saltwater intrusion for water retention and storage; at the end of the rainy season, make an inventory of water resources remaining in reservoirs and irrigation systems with the aim of establishing the plan for regulation, supply and consumption of water;

d) In case of drought, water shortage, saltwater intrusion, flood, inundation or waterlogging emergencies, operate single reservoirs or interconnected multiple reservoirs under the decision issued by state regulatory authorities having competency in irrigation issues.

2. Managers of dams or reservoirs shall be responsible for directing, conducting inspection and supervision of, and compliance with reservoir or inter-reservoir operational processes approved by state regulatory authorities.

Article 28. Operation of hydropower reservoirs or operation of interconnected multiple reservoirs for water uses

1. Processes for operation of hydropower reservoirs or operation of interconnected multiple reservoirs for water uses shall comply with other laws on water resources and the following requirements:

a) Cope with water consumption demands arising downstream of reservoirs; prefer supplying water for personal, domestic uses and agricultural production purposes;

b) Proactively make a projection about water supply capacity and develop approaches to regulating water under normal or abnormal weather conditions with due account taken of the climate change factor.

2. Single reservoir or interconnected multiple reservoirs for water uses shall be operated in conformity with operational processes approved by state regulatory authorities and the following requirements:

a) Regularly make an inventory of water retained in reservoirs and a forecast of drought, water shortage and saltwater intrusion in order to establish the plan for retention, storage, regulation and distribution of water used for meeting water consumption demands of downstream of reservoirs;

b) In case of drought or water shortage emergency, the residual volume of water inside reservoirs shall be used to meet personal, domestic, agricultural production and other pressing demands;

c) Consult hydro-meteorological forecasts, specialized hydro-meteorological observation data and other relevant information to predict and operate reservoirs where relevant to practical situations to match water consumption demands and downstream currents;

d) In case of drought, water shortage, saltwater intrusion, flood, inundation or waterlogging emergencies, operate single reservoirs or interconnected multiple reservoirs under the decision issued by state regulatory authorities.

3. Operation of hydropower reservoirs that are run under the day-based regulating system shall ensure normal operation of irrigation projects located downstream thereof.

4. Prior to carrying out water release, organizations or individuals shall take responsibility for notifying local and other relevant authorities in conformity with the operational processes approved by state regulatory authorities.