A team of authors consisting of Ha Thanh Lan from the Institute of Water Resources Planning (IWRP)-Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Wim Bastiaanssen (IHE - Delft Institute for Water Education), Ate Poortinga, Brian Bean and Mark Fenn (Winrock International) and others recently published a technical policy brief (white paper) on Water Resources in the Ca Basin.

This paper presents the key findings of a water accounting analysis in the Ca Basin for the period January 2003 to December 2013 using the Water Accounting Plus (WA+) framework (more information at www.wateraccounting.org) undertaken as part of the USAID-funded Vietnam Forests and Deltas (VFD) program. Central issues in water management in north-central Vietnam have always been about securing water for sustainable growth, food security and poverty reduction, and minimizing the impact of natural disasters. Through this WA+ study, hydrological processes and water management options are now better quantified and understood for the Ca Basin.

About USAID-funded Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program

The USAID-funded Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program is enhancing climate change resilience planning and action from community to the national level. The program puts into practice the national policies and strategies on response to climate change and low emissions development with a focus on reducing emissions from forestry and agriculture sectors and strengthening climate-smart livelihoods and settlements, particularly in rural areas.

Water accounting-plus integrates hydrological processes with land use, managed water flows and the services that result from water consumption in river basins. Its objective is to strive to achieve equitable and transparent water governance for all users and a sustainable water balance. Users can provide value assessments of certain process, and more accurate data sets, that replaces the default data collected from open access sources that represent best estimates.

For further information, please contact: htqt@iwrp.gov.vn