Regional water quality management for the Dong Nai River Basin, Vietnam

Abstract

A three-year study that started solely as an industrial pollution reduction effort in Dong Nai Province of Vietnam expanded into an ongoing regional river basin water quality management effort. The project was a cooperative effort between the United Nations (UNDP and UNIDO) and the Federal and Provincial governments in Vietnam. A comprehensive approach was used to assess the impacts and strategies for reducing industrial, municipal and agricultural pollution to the water, air and land. The strategy was based upon use of knowledge in four subject areas, economics, ecology, technology and institutions, integrated within a framework for regional environmental quality management, sometimes called Areawide Environmental Quality Management (AEQM). Dong Nal Province encompasses a major developing area immediately north of Ho Chi Minh City. The land area chosen for the AEQM study is the 1,400 square kilometre region in and around Bien Hoa that drains into the Dong Nai River. The Dong Nai River serves many purposes including navigation, fisheries and a water supply for both the Province and Ho Chi Minh City. Extensive industrial and residential development was underway and was projected to increase in the coming decade. A strategy for the control of pollution from liquid, gaseous and solid wastes for the period 1998 to 2010 in Dong Nai Province was developed.