The FAO-ESCAP pilot project on national water visions. From vision ...

1946 and 1949, the water-structure-building movement by the people was extensively implemented in
order to expand the available water infrastructure and increase irrigated areas. <strong>The</strong> government also
pushed land reclamation and the building of flood-preventing dykes, particularly in the Red River
delta.
<strong>The</strong> 1949-1954 period was the most difficult wartime. Nonetheless, the government paid special
attention to water resources and issued Ordinance 68-SL on 18 June 1949 establishing inter-district
and provincial hydro-agriculture councils, which were responsible for building, repairing and
developing hydro-agricultural structures and dykes.
In the 1955-1957 period of economic restoration, the duties of the water resources industry were
defined as follows: “<strong>The</strong> macro hydro-agriculture duties are to restore all the water infrastructure
system which was exploited before the Resistance and widen channels to increase irrigated areas,
reform irrigation water management, and educate the people to save water so that little water is used
but much land is irrigated. While the macro hydro-agriculture duties are implemented, it is necessary
to develop micro hydro-agriculture countrywide” (<strong>The</strong> 1955-1957 economic restoration plan).
In 1958, Vietnam shifted to a period of economic restoration and development. <strong>The</strong> targets of the
water resources industry in the three-year plan were to overcome floods, widen irrigated areas, narrow
cultivation areas reliant on rainwater, guarantee adequate water supply in the face of greater demand
due to technological improvements and contribute to the cooperation movement in order to fulfil the
three-year agriculture production duties and create a firm foothold for hydraulic modernization.
In 1960, Vietnam substantially developed water resources exploitation and control, taking the first
steps in researching how to control and exploit the Red River. This was useful for the preparation of
the first five-year plan. Vietnam started to build reservoirs and medium-sized hydroelectric plants.
Several colleges and institutes were established for training and scientific research on water resources
development.
<strong>The</strong> 1961-1965 period was considered as a great leap forward for the North’s water sector. Directing
the guidelines for those five years, the Fifth Congress of the Communist Party’s Central Committee
(the third legislature) issued a resolution in which the section on the water resources sector was
defined as follows: “Water service is the first measure to develop agricultural production. In the next
five years, the water resources industry must take an active role in preventing droughts, narrowing
flood areas, guaranteeing adequate water for paddy cultivation and for areas planted with vegetables
and industrial crops that are only partially irrigated. To prevent floods, river and sea dykes must be
strengthened and riverbeds scraped, guaranteeing protection from high river levels and strong winds.
It is necessary to make plans for the Red River, build essential structures and start research on big
rivers.”
In order to fulfil the plan, the government started a new small water structure-building movement by
the people over 1964 and 1965, which increased the number of reservoirs and irrigation and drainage
structures. Research on how to control and exploit big rivers brought about the first tangible results.
For the Red River system, terrace exploitation plans for the Lo and Da rivers were drawn and it was
determined that the Hoa Binh hydroelectric plant should be the first water structure on the Da River.
At the end of the 1961-1965 plan, there were 83 large-scale hydraulic structures and 2 830 medium-
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National water visions in Southeast Asia