Circular No. 47/2017/TT-BTNMT on supervision of water resource exploitation and utilization

CIRCULAR

Provisions on supervision of water resources exploitation and utilization
 

Based on the Law on Water Resources No. 17/2012/QH13;

Pursuant to Decree No. 201/2013/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2013 of the Government detailing implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Water Resources;

On the basis of Decision No. 36/2017/NĐ-CP dated April 4, 2017, of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

At the proposal of the Director of the National Water Resources Management Agency;

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment issues this Circular to provide for the supervision of water resources exploitation and utilization.

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular provides for the supervision of water resources exploitation and utilization.

Article 2. Applicability

1. Central and local state management agencies for water resources.

2. Production, business, and service establishments (hereinafter referred to collectively as establishments) with water resource exploitation works falling under any of the following cases:

a) Reservoir works exploiting surface water for power generation with installed capacity over 50 kW, including combined irrigation and hydropower works;

b) Reservoir works exploiting surface water with a scale over 0.1 m³/second for agricultural production and aquaculture purposes; over 100 m³/day-night for other purposes;

c) Canal, pumping station, and other surface water exploitation works not specified in Points a and b of this Clause with a scale over 0.1 m³/second for agricultural production and aquaculture purposes; over 100 m³/day-night for other purposes;

d) Underground water exploitation works with a scale over 10 m³/day-night;

Article 3. Principles of Supervision

1. Ensuring accuracy, honesty, objectivity, and convenience for the exploitation and utilization of information and data on water resources exploitation and utilization.

2. Ensuring systematic, timely, comprehensive, and continuous control of water resources exploitation and utilization activities.

3. Ensuring uniformity and synchronization of information and data in space and time; between central, local levels, and within each river basin.

4. Ensuring consistency between supervision requirements and monitoring activities of establishments licensed for water resources exploitation and utilization.

Chapter II
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 4. Forms of Supervision

Supervision of water resources exploitation and utilization activities is the control of such activities by authorized state management agencies through the monitoring of measurement data from establishments exploiting and utilizing water resources. The supervision provided for in Articles 9, 10, 11, and 12 of this Circular shall be carried out in the following forms:

1. Automatic online supervision: monitoring automatically and continuously measured data connected and transmitted directly into the water resources exploitation and utilization supervision system (hereinafter referred to collectively as the supervision system).

2. Camera supervision: monitoring images captured by cameras connected and transmitted directly into the supervision system.

3. Periodic supervision: monitoring periodically updated measurement data into the supervision system.

Article 5. Supervision System

1. The water resources exploitation and utilization supervision system is a unified system ensuring connectivity and sharing of information and data from establishments exploiting and utilizing water resources with state management agencies from central to local levels, comprising the following components:

a) Central data acquisition, storage equipment, and data management and processing software;

b) Local data acquisition, storage equipment, and data management and processing software;

c) Database of the supervision system;

d) Measurement devices connecting, transmitting, and updating data from establishments with water resource exploitation works into the database of the supervision system.

2. Responsibilities for investment and construction of the supervision system:

a) The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible for investing in and constructing, installing data acquisition and storage equipment, management and processing software at the central level, and the database of the supervision system as stipulated in Points a and c of Clause 1 of this Article;

b) Provincial People's Committees (hereinafter referred to as provincial People's Committees) are responsible for investing in and constructing, installing data acquisition and storage equipment at the local level as stipulated in Point b of Clause 1 of this Article;

c) Establishments with water resource exploitation works as stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 2 of this Circular are responsible for investing in and installing measurement devices and related equipment as stipulated in Point d of Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Responsibilities for managing and operating the supervision system:

a) The National Water Resources Management Agency is responsible for organizing the management, operation, maintenance, and upkeep of the central-level data acquisition and storage system and the database of the supervision system;

b) Provincial Departments of Natural Resources and Environment (hereinafter referred to as provincial Departments of Natural Resources and Environment) are responsible for organizing the management, operation, maintenance, and upkeep of the local-level data acquisition and storage system and ensuring connectivity with the supervision system;

c) Establishments with water resource exploitation works are responsible for managing, operating, maintaining, and keeping the measurement devices, connection, direct transmission, and data updating into the database of the supervision system operational.

4. Information and data from the supervision system are one of the bases for inspection, examination, and administrative violation handling activities in compliance with water resource permit regulations and other laws on water resources.

Article 6. Requirements for data collection, storage devices and data management software

1. The system of data collection and storage devices includes servers, network connection devices, information and data storage systems, and other auxiliary devices, must meet the following requirements:

a) Compatibility with communication infrastructure to ensure stable, continuous operation; information security in accordance with the provisions of the law;

b) Ensuring connectivity and sharing of water resource monitoring information between central and local levels; ensuring that each locality has access and control over the database of water resource exploitation works under its jurisdiction;

c) For the central data collection and storage system, it must ensure automatic connection, direct transmission, updating, and storing data from facilities with water resource exploitation works into the system's database.

2. Data management software must be designed to run on a web platform, integrate with tablets, mobile phones, and other mobile devices, and must have the following main features:

a) Automatic and periodic information updates;

b) Access control;

c) Automatic analysis and processing of information and data periodically and implementing notification and warning functions;

d) Information and data synthesis, report generation;

đ) In case of non-compliance with regulations, automatically notify and warn the facility with the work via email, phone messages, and other forms of automatic notification.

Article 7. Requirements for monitoring databases

1. Monitoring databases for water resource exploitation and utilization activities must be organized and arranged reasonably for access, exploitation, management, and regular updates.

2. The database must include technical parameters of the works, management and operation of the works, and the following main information contents:

a) For surface water exploitation work databases: collect information and data on minimum flow maintenance discharge, discharge through power plants, discharge over spillways, reservoir water level for surface water exploitation for power generation; extraction volume, minimum flow maintenance discharge, reservoir water level, water quality during exploitation for surface water supply for agriculture, aquaculture, and other purposes;

b) For groundwater exploitation work databases: groundwater levels in observation wells; groundwater levels in extraction wells, extraction volume, water quality during exploitation.

Article 8. Requirements for measurement equipment, connection, and data transmission of facilities with works

Measurement equipment at water resource exploitation works must meet the following main requirements:

1. Suitable measurement range for the values being measured.

2. Continuous operation, connecting, and transmitting information and data to the data collection and storage device of the monitoring system.

3. Absolute error not exceeding 01 cm for water level measuring devices; relative error not exceeding 5% compared to actual measured values for flow measuring devices.

4. For automatic water level and flow measuring devices, the measurement range must ensure no more than once every 15 minutes; for surveillance cameras, recording speed must not be less than 01 frame per minute.

5. All types of measuring devices must undergo calibration and testing in accordance with regulations.

Article 9. Supervision of activities related to the exploitation and use of reservoir projects for power generation

The supervision of surface water exploitation and use activities for hydropower reservoirs or combined hydropower and irrigation reservoirs as stipulated in Point a, Clause 2, Article 2 of this Circular shall be carried out as follows:

1. Monitoring parameters include:

a) Reservoir water level;

b) Minimum flow discharge rate;

c) Discharge rate through the power plant;

d) Spillway discharge rate.

2. Forms of supervision:

a) For reservoirs with a total capacity of one (01) million cubic meters or more: automatic and online monitoring shall be conducted for the parameters specified in Clause 1 of this Article, and camera monitoring shall be implemented for water release operations;³ : carry out automatic, online monitoring of the parameters specified in Clause 1 of this Article and monitor the water discharge operation through cameras;

b) For reservoirs with a total capacity less than one (01) million cubic meters: automatic and online monitoring shall be conducted for the parameters specified in Points a, b, and c of Clause 1 of this Article, periodic monitoring shall be conducted for the parameter specified in Point d of Clause 1 of this Article; camera monitoring shall be implemented for minimum flow maintenance release operations and spillway releases.³: carry out automatic, online monitoring of the parameters specified in Point a, Point b, and Point c of Clause 1 of this Article, periodically monitor the parameter specified in Point d of Clause 1 of this Article; monitor the water discharge operation to maintain minimum flow and over spill through cameras;

3. Monitoring regime:

a) Not exceeding fifteen (15) minutes once for parameters requiring automatic and online monitoring;

b) Not exceeding six (06) hours once during flood season, twelve (12) hours once during dry season, and data must be updated into the monitoring system at least once daily before twenty (20) hours every day for parameters subject to periodic monitoring.

Article 10. Supervision of activities related to the exploitation of reservoir projects for agricultural production, aquaculture, and other purposes

The supervision of surface water exploitation and use activities for reservoir projects for agricultural production, aquaculture, and other purposes as stipulated in Point b, Clause 2, Article 2 of this Circular shall be carried out as follows:

1. Monitoring parameters include:

a) Reservoir water level;

b) Minimum flow discharge rate;

c) Extraction flow rate;

d) Water quality during extraction as prescribed.

2. Forms of supervision:

a) For extraction facilities with a scale of two (2) cubic meters per second or more supplied for agricultural production, aquaculture, or a scale of fifty thousand (50,000) cubic meters per day-night or more for other purposes:³/second provided for agricultural production, aquaculture, or a scale of 50,000m³Automatic and online monitoring shall be conducted for the parameters specified in Points a, b, and c of Clause 1 of this Article, and periodic monitoring shall be conducted for the parameter specified in Point d of Clause 1 of this Article.

: carry out automatic, online monitoring of the parameters specified in Point a, Point b, and Point c of Clause 1 of this Article, periodically monitor the parameter specified in Point d of Clause 1 of this Article.

b) For extraction facilities with a scale greater than zero point one (0.1) cubic meters per second up to less than two (2) cubic meters per second supplied for agricultural production, aquaculture, or a scale greater than one hundred (100) cubic meters per day-night up to less than fifty thousand (50,000) cubic meters per day-night for other purposes:³/second up to less than 2m³Automatic and online monitoring shall be conducted for the parameter specified in Point b of Clause 1 of this Article, and periodic monitoring shall be conducted for the parameters specified in Points a, c, and d of Clause 1 of this Article.³/day-night up to less than 50,000m³a) For the parameters specified in Points a, b, and c of Clause 1 of this Article, implementation shall be carried out according to Clause 3 of Article 9 of this Circular;

b) For the water quality parameter during extraction specified in Point d of Clause 1 of this Article, data must be updated into the monitoring system not later than five (05) days from the date of analysis results.

3. Monitoring regime:

Article 11. Supervision of activities related to the exploitation of culverts, pumping stations, and other surface water extraction facilities

The supervision of surface water exploitation and use activities for culverts, pumping stations, and other surface water extraction facilities as stipulated in Point c, Clause 2, Article 2 of this Circular shall be carried out as follows:

1. Monitoring parameters include:

a) Extraction flow rate;

b) Water quality during extraction as prescribed.

2. Monitoring methods: periodic monitoring shall be conducted for the extraction flow rate and water quality parameters during extraction as specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

a) Not exceeding twelve (12) hours once for the extraction flow rate parameter and data must be updated into the monitoring system at least once daily before twenty (20) hours every day;

b) For the water quality parameter during extraction, data must be updated into the monitoring system not later than five (05) days from the date of analysis results.

3. Monitoring regime:

a) Not more than once every 12 hours for the extraction flow rate parameter and must update data into the monitoring system at least once a day before 20:00 daily;

b) For the water quality parameter during extraction, update data into the monitoring system not later than five days from the date of analysis results.

Article 12. Supervision of Underground Water Extraction Activities

The supervision of underground water extraction and utilization activities from facilities specified in Point d Clause 2 Article 2 of this Circular shall be carried out as follows:

b) Water quality during extraction as prescribed.

2. Monitoring methods: periodic monitoring shall be conducted for the extraction flow rate and water quality parameters during extraction as specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

b) Water level in extraction wells;

c) Water quality during the extraction process in accordance with regulations;

d) For facilities with a scale of 3,000m³/day-night or more, in addition to monitoring the parameters specified in Points a, b, and c of this Clause, they must also monitor the water level in observation wells;

2. Forms of supervision:

a) For facilities with a scale of 3,000m³/day-night or more: automatic and online monitoring of the parameters specified in Points a, b, and d of Article 1 of this Decree, periodic monitoring of water quality during the extraction process at the location of the extraction facility specified in Point c of Article 1 of this Decree;

b) For facilities with a scale of 200m³/day-night to less than 3,000 m³/day-night: automatic and online monitoring of the parameters specified in Points a and b of Article 1 of this Decree, periodic monitoring of water quality during the extraction process at the location of the extraction facility specified in Point c of Article 1 of this Decree;

c) For facilities with a scale above 10m³/day-night to below 200m³/day-night: periodic monitoring of the parameters specified in Points a, b, and c of Article 1 of this Decree;

3. Monitoring regime:

a) Not exceeding 01 hour once for parameters requiring automatic and online monitoring;

b) Not exceeding 12 hours once for parameters subject to periodic monitoring and data must be updated into the monitoring system before 20:00 daily; for water quality parameters during the extraction process, data must be updated into the monitoring system not later than 05 days from the date of analysis results;

Chapter III
RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

Article 13. Responsibilities of the People's Committee at the provincial level

1. Direct the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant agencies and units to construct, install, and ensure local data collection, reception, and storage equipment that is synchronized and consistent with the investment plan for installation of monitoring equipment at facilities within their jurisdiction;

2. Direct the management, operation, maintenance, and provision of necessary conditions to ensure the operation of data collection, reception, and storage equipment under their management;

3. Inspect and audit the implementation of regulations on supervision of water resource extraction and utilization, and handle violations according to their authority as stipulated in this Circular;

Article 14. Responsibilities of the National Water Resources Management Agency

1. Take the lead and coordinate with relevant units to construct, install data collection, reception, and storage equipment, management software, and data processing software at the central and local levels, and establish a unified national database for the water resource extraction and utilization monitoring system, ensuring synchronization and consistency with the investment plan for installation of monitoring equipment at water resource extraction facilities;

2. Advise and assist the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment in directing the construction, management, and operation of the national monitoring system;

3. Organize the management and supervision of water resource extraction and utilization activities for cases within the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's licensing authority;

4. Inspect, cooperate in audits, handle according to their authority, or recommend competent authorities to handle cases where organizations violate regulations on water resource extraction and utilization as stipulated in this Circular; publicize violators on electronic information websites according to their authority.

Article 15. Responsibilities of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment

1. Advise and assist the People's Committee at the provincial level in directing the construction, management, and operation of monitoring systems within their jurisdiction; report to the provincial People's Committee and the National Water Resources Management Agency on the results of monitoring water resource exploitation and utilization in their administrative area.

2. Guide, monitor, and supervise water resource exploitation and utilization facilities within their administrative area to build, provide, and transmit information and data from monitoring equipment at worksites to the database system.

3. Manage and supervise activities related to water resource exploitation and utilization for cases within the licensing authority of the provincial People's Committee.

4. Inspect and check compliance with monitoring regulations and handle violations according to their authority or recommend competent authorities to process violations of this Circular; publicize violators on electronic information websites according to their authority.

Article 16. Responsibilities of Water Resource Exploitation and Utilization Facilities

1. Invest in, install, manage, and operate monitoring equipment at worksites for water resource exploitation and utilization activities as prescribed and report to the provincial People's Committee (through the Department of Natural Resources and Environment) where the worksite is located on the results of investment and installation of equipment.

2. Connect and provide regular, continuous, and periodic monitoring data into the monitoring system as stipulated in this Circular.

3. Store and provide information and data on their own water resource exploitation and utilization monitoring to serve inspection and checking work or when requested by competent state agencies.

Article 17. Transitional Provisions

1. For facilities that have been granted exploitation and utilization permits before this Circular takes effect, they must complete the installation of monitoring equipment, connection, and provision of information and data to the exploitation and utilization monitoring system by December 31, 2019.

2. For exploitation and utilization permits already issued but not specifically detailing parameters, forms, observation regimes, and information provision for monitoring purposes, or those that have such details but are inconsistent with this Circular, the issuing authority shall review and decide to adjust and supplement requirements for observation and monitoring according to this Circular when renewing, extending, or reissuing permits. In necessary cases, the issuing authority may decide to adjust and supplement provisions on observation and monitoring to be consistent with this Circular.

Article 18. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from December 22, 2017.

2. During the implementation of this Circular, if there are difficulties or obstacles, organizations and individuals are advised to reflect them to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for consideration and resolution./.