tailieunhanh - Water governance for sustainable development: International practices and implications for the Mekong Delta region

In this paper, we firstly review water governance around the world and then investigate the water governance issues in Vietnam, especially in the Mekong Delta. International practices including tools, models and challenges of water governance would be valuable lessons for water policies in Vietnam. | Thang Vo et. al. / Journal of Economic Development, 24(4), 99–120 99 Water governance for sustainable development: International practices and implications for the Mekong Delta region THANG VO University of Economics HCMC – thangvt@. THONG TRAN Australian National University, Australia DUY LUONG University of Economics HCMC ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Water governance takes a vital role in sustainable development in the developing world. Population growth, economic development and technological improvement have raised the water demand but water supply is becoming unstable due to natural changes. Water scarcity leads to not only environmental pressures but also social tensions due to the fact that water resources are distributed unevenly across countries, regions, and social groups. In this paper, we firstly review water governance around the world and then investigate the water governance issues in Vietnam, especially in the Mekong Delta. International practices including tools, models and challenges of water governance would be valuable lessons for water policies in Vietnam. Received: Nov. 22, 2016 Received in revised form: Dec. 23, 2016 Accepted: Oct. 25, 2017 Keywords: Water governance Agriculture Sustainable development Mekong Delta 100 1. Thang Vo et. al. / Journal of Economic Development, 24(4), 99–120 Introduction While the concept of sustainable development refers to a link between economic growth and the environment, the concept of water governance relates to the capability of developing and implementing suitable policies for water. Literature shows that population growth, economic development and technological improvement have raised the water demand globally. Moreover, natural hazards like droughts and floods are intensifying the water stress. It is predicted that 2 billion people will be suffered from water scarcity by 2050, and this number will rise to billion people by 2080. This results in conflicts not only at .