| THE GOVERNMENT No. 43/2015/ND-CP | THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence - Freedom – Happiness Hanoi, May 6, 2015 |
DECREE
Providing the establishment and management of water source protection corridors
Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;
Pursuant to the June 21, 2012 Law on Water Resources;
At the proposal of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment,
The Government promulgates the Decree providing the establishment and management of water source protection corridors.
Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Scope of regulation
This Decree provides the establishment and management of water source protection corridors with regard to the water sources defined in Article 31 of Law No. 17/2012/QH13 on Water Resources.
Article 2. Subjects of application
This Decree applies to state agencies, organizations, individuals and households that are involved in the establishment and management of water source protection corridors and activities within these corridors in the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Article 3. Interpretation of terms
1. Water sources related to religious or belief activities means the water sources regarded by local communities as sacred or as places for organization of belief-related activities.
2. Water sources related to culture conservation activities means sections of rivers, streams, canals, ditches or lakes which are closely associated with scenic places or traditional historical-cultural relics of localities.
3. Water sources of high bio-diversity value means those closely associated with the regular or seasonal habitats of animal and plant species on the list of endangered and rare species prioritized for protection.
4. Rivers, streams, canals or ditches for which water source protection corridors shall be established defined at Point c. Clause 1, Article 31 of the Law on Water Resources, include:
a/ Sections of rivers, streams, canals and ditches which are sources of water supply for water plants supplying daily-life or production water for urban centers, concentrated residential quarters, industrial complexes and parks, or craft villages;
b/ Inter-district or inter-provincial rivers, streams, canals and ditches which serve as water drainage axes for urban centers, concentrated residential quarters, and industrial complexes and parks;
c/ Rivers, streams, canals and ditches which function to supply or drain water with a view to ensuring environmental sanitation, improving or recovering polluted, degraded or depleted water sources in urban centers or residential quarters;
d/ Rivers, streams, canals and ditches which are closely associated with the livelihood of riverside communities.
5. Bank edge of a river, stream, canal or ditch means the boundary between the natural talus of the river, stream, canal or ditch bank and the natural land surface in the horizontal direction. For an embanked river, stream, canal or ditch, the bank edge is the top of the embankment. The bank edges of natural or man-made lagoons, ponds or lakes other than hydroelectric or irrigation reservoirs will be determined by markers planted by agencies based on the highest water level; for coastal lagoons, their bank edges shall be determined based on the average highest tide in many years.
