Pursuant to the Ordinance on Organization of the Council of Ministers of July 4, 1981;
Pursuant to the Ordinance on Dykes issued together with the Order of the President of the State Council No.26 - LCT/HDNN8 of November 16, 1989;
At the proposal of the Chairperson of the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms;

Article 1: To establish:
- The Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms;
- The committees for prevention and control of floods and storms at local levels;

• The committees for prevention and control of floods and storms under Ministries, State Committees and General Departments.

Article 2: The Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms shall comprise:
- The Minister of Water Resources as Chairperson;
- One Vice Minister of Water Resources as Standing Vice Chairperson;
- One Deputy Director of the Office of the Council of Ministers as Vice Chairperson;
- One Deputy Chief of Staff of the People’s Army of Vietnam as Vice Chairperson;
- Representatives (deputies) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, Ministry of Forestry, Ministry of Fishery Products, Ministry of Communication, Transportation and Post, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, State Planning Committee, State Committee for Science and Department of Meteorology and Hydrology as members.

Article 3: The Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms shall be tasked with assisting the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers in:
- Motivating and checking performance of ministries, localities concerned with the establishment and realization of annual plans and orientation for prevention and control of floods and storms.
- Issuing commands for mobilization of human resources, means, etc. in order to provide timely assistance in emergency situations that are beyond the scope of ministries and localities to solve.
- Directing localities in the organization of activities to overcome consequences of floods and storms.
- Reviewing the work of prevention and control of floods and storms; introducing experiences and scientific and technical know-how for preventing and fighting floods and storms at all levels and sectors.
The Committee shall have a general office (that can use the staff of the Ministry of Water Resources), shall have an official stamp, shall be allocated with a budget for operation, which shall be accounted for as part of the annual budget subsidy of the Ministry of Water Resources.

Article 4:
The committees for prevention and control of floods and storms of provinces, districts, communes and similar levels shall be established by the Chairperson of the People’s Councils at the same level. The committee shall comprise: the Chairperson of the local People’s Committee as Chairperson; the Head of the Water Resources Department as Standing Vice Chairperson; the heads or deputy heads of departments concerned with the work of prevention and control of floods and storms of the locality as members. The headquarters of the committee shall be located at the office of the Water Resource Department. The operational budget for the committee shall be provided by the province, and accounted for as part of the budget subsidy of the Water Resource Department.
The local committees for prevention and control of floods and storms shall be tasked with assisting the People’s Committee of the same level in setting up and directing the implementation of plans on prevention and control of floods and storms in their areas; they shall also be tasked with organizing reinforcement work for dykes and other activities aimed at preventing and protecting commercial and residential areas in their locality; as well overcoming the consequences of floods and storms.

Article 5:
The committees for prevention and control of floods and storms of Ministries, State Committees, General Departments, shall be established by the Heads of the Ministries, State Committees, General Departments (hereunder referred to as ministries), and shall be chaired by one official of the ministry. The committees shall be tasked with assisting the Head of the Ministry in:
- Building and implementing plans for prevention and control of floods and storms of the sector in order to protect infrastructure and technical facilities and people that are under the direct management of the sector.
- Maintaining law and order, managing the means reserved for the work of prevention and control of floods and storms, and overcoming consequences within the scope of their management functions.
- When required by the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms, providing timely supply of materials, facilities, and means to management units so that relief reaches emergency cases when overcoming flood and storm consequences.
- Recording experiences in prevention and control of floods and storms in order to introduce them at all levels and in all sectors.

Article 6:
The Decree shall take effect from the date of issuance; all previous provisions that are inconsistent with this Decree are hereby annulled.

Article 7:
The Chairperson of the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms, the Ministers, the Chairpersons of State Committees, the Heads of other offices under the Council of Ministers, the Chairpersons of People’s Committees of all levels of provinces, cities and special zones under the Central Government, shall have the obligation to implement this Decree.
 

Hanoi, May 19, 1990 On Behalf of The Council of Ministers For the Chairperson Vice Chairperson DONG SI NGUYEN

4. DECISION NO. 398 - HDBT OF NOVEMBER 14, 1990 OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS ON THE FUNCTIONS, TASKS AND AUTHORITY OF THE SPECIAL DYKE MANAGEMENT FORCE

Article 1:
The special force in charge of dyke management shall have the following functions, tasks and authority:
Functions:
To directly manage and protect dykes of category III or higher.
Tasks:
1. To establish and complete files and records of dykes, tunnels and dams that are under its management; to advise the authorities and the water resources sector on the management and use of projects for preventing flashfloods, flooding and sea water flooding.
2. To check and monitor the observance of the Ordinance on Dykes in areas managed by the force.
3. To be alert to problems that occur in dykes, dams, tunnels as well as in water flows, alluvial soil, river banks, sea coasts; to propose measures and plans for fixing problems that occur in dykes, tunnels and dams in the flood and storm season; to act as advisor to local authorities and the committee for prevention and control of floods and storms of districts, provinces in organizing rescue work for the dykes that are managed by the force.
4. To propose plans for annual reinforcement of dykes, and to monitor the work of reinforcing dykes that have been approved.
5. To directly manage the facilities that serve the work of dyke management, flood and storm control that are assigned to the force by the People’s Committees of provinces and cities.
Authority:
1. The force shall be the official member of the council of inspection that does the final checking on the work of construction and reinforcement of dykes, tunnels and dams that are managed by the force.
2. The force shall be allowed to check, stop activities that are related to the safety of the dykes but have not been approved or licensed.
3. The force shall have the authority to keep record of, to confiscate material evidence of organizations and individuals that violate the Ordinance on Dykes so as to be able to inform functional units.
Responsibility:
The force shall be responsible or partly answerable to the law when problems occur at the stage of project implementation due to lack of monitoring or bad management, or as a result of untimely discovery of problems causing serious damage to dykes, as well as when problems are reported late, incompletely, or when actions are not undertaken promptly, leading to serious loss of State and people’s property.

Article 2:
The budget for salary and operating expenses of the dyke management force shall be included in the budget for administration work of flood prevention and control activities, and shall be subsidized by the provincial and city authorities.
The Governmental Committee for Organization and Personnel, the State Planning Committee, the Ministry of Finance, when planning the annual budget for provinces and cities shall have to include the budget for salary of the existing dyke management force.

Article 3:
The Ministry of Water Resources shall transfer the control of the existing dyke management force to the People’s Committee of cities and provinces and transfer all the facilities used by the force to the same authority. The transferring shall have to be completed in 1990.
The Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall be responsible for studying, making adjustments and amendments to policies and regulations so that they are in conformity with the functions, tasks, authority of this force.

Article 4:
The People’s Committee of cities and provinces that have dykes shall be responsible for absorbing the dyke management force transferred from the Ministry of Water Resources; quickly completing the organization work, appointing appropriate personnel, selecting staff with technical skills, experience and the responsibility demanded by the functions, tasks and authority of the force.

Article 5:
The dykes that are below category III shall be managed by the local dyke management force that are not employed by the State. Dykes that are only used by sectors, units shall be managed by the users.

Article 6:
The Ministry of Water Resources shall be responsible for the implementation of this Decision in coordination with the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and the Governmental Committee for Organization and Personnel.

Article 7:
This Decision shall replace Decision 90-CP of May 8, 1971 on the organization of dyke management forces, and shall take effect from the day of issuance.

Article 8:
The Minister of Water Resources, Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Minister of Finance, Chairperson of the State Planning Committee, Minister - Chairperson of the Governmental Committee for Organization and Personnel, and Chairpersons of the People’s Committee of cities and provinces shall implement this Decision.
 

Hanoi, May 19, 1990 On Behalf of the Council of Ministers For the chairperson Vice chairperson DONG SI NGUYEN

 5. DECREE NO. 429 - HDBT OF DECEMBER 15, 1990 OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ORDINANCE ON DYKES

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Organization of the Council of Ministers of July 4, 1981;
Pursuant to the Ordinance on Dykes of November 9, 1989;
At the proposal of the Minister of Water Resources;  

Article 1: The Minister of Water Resources shall be assigned the following tasks:
- To approve construction plans for all types of dykes, dams, tunnels and other projects stipulated in Article 1, Article 2 and Article 5 of the Ordinance on Dykes; to present the plans to the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers for approval if the Minister finds that the project is of special importance.
- To abide by management regulations that conform with technical requirements for design, construction, protection and use of all types of dykes.

Article 2:
1. Basis for dyke categorization:
Based on the potential role of dykes to protect human life, the economy, political and social affairs of the regions they are built in, the extent of loss and damage that may accrue to the environment if the dykes break, the physical features of the regions protected by the dykes and the extent of flooding if the dykes break, dykes shall be divided into five categories as follows:
 

Based on the above criteria, the Minister of Water Resources shall approve the categorization of each river or sea dyke.
2. Area of dyke protection:
The areas that concern dyke protection shall embrace the main body of dykes, breakwaters, tunnels and the vicinity.
The vicinity is described as follows:
(a) Vicinity of a river dyke shall extend 20 metres from the dyke to the river and 25 metres from the dyke towards the fields.
(b) Vicinity of a sea dyke shall extend 100 metres from the dyke towards the sea and 20 metres towards the field.
(c) Vicinity of a breakwater shall extend 100 metres from either of its ends; by 50 metres towards the bank from the centre of its face, and by 20 metres from its foot towards the water.
(d) Vicinity of a tunnel shall extend 50 metres from either end of the constructed part for normal tunnels, and 80 metres for tunnels in areas affected by tides.
Vicinity of a reinforcing dyke or a dyke that is not regularly affected by river or sea water such as dykes surrounding cities, industrial zones or sea dykes, shall be defined by the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of provinces or a similar level of authority provided it is approved by the Minister of Water Resources.
In special cases where changes need to be made in the description of protected area of dykes, breakwaters and tunnels from that defined in items a, b, c and d of Article 2 of this Decree so that it conforms with the actual situation, the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the province or a similar level of authority shall present the proposal to the Minister of Water Resources for consideration and to the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers for approval. The final conclusions shall be announced to local people and related units.  

Article 3:
The People’s Committee for provinces and similar administrative units shall be responsible for keeping a balance in the use of public labour resources in their locality giving priority to districts that need to fulfil their construction and reinforcement plans for dykes and other preventive activities before the flood and storm season.
The State Planning Committee shall formulate annual plans to mobilize public labour resources for the work of constructing, reinforcing the dyke system in the whole country and present them to the Council of Ministers for final approval.
Public labour resources contributed in the form of labour or money shall be mobilized in accordance with the stipulations in the Ordinance on Public Labour Contribution.

Article 4: Investment for construction, reinforcement of dykes, breakwaters and tunnels shall be regulated as follows:
The budget for dykes from category III to "special" shall be subsidized by the Central Government. That for dykes belonging to categories II or lower shall come from the budget of the local authorities. Dykes for special use in sectors, units shall be funded by the manager of the sector, units.
Each year, the State Planning Committee shall be responsible for putting together the share of materials and budget needed for the work of construction, reinforcement of dykes that are funded by the Central Government into a separate fund which shall be managed and distributed by the Ministry of Water Resources to provinces, cities that have dykes.
The amount of investment allocated to dykes belonging to category II and lower shall be decided by the provincial People’s Council or administrative units of similar levels. In special cases when localities face difficulties, the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of provinces or administrative units of similar levels can send a request for funding to the Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Finance, and the State Planning Committee for consideration and to the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers for final approval.
The Finance, Banking, Commerce and Construction sectors shall be responsible for a priority and timely budget, and materials as required in the annual budget to enable the work of construction, reinforcement of dykes to be completed in the first six months of the year.
The Ministry of Water Resources shall organize and coordinate with related sectors in formulating suitable building policies and mechanisms aimed at encouraging organizations and individuals to contribute their energies, money, property and scientific knowledge to the work of constructing and reinforcing dykes, before presenting them to the Council of Ministers for approval. 

Chapter III-Protection and Use of Dykes

Article 5:
1. The authority for licensing activities conducted for the safety of dykes and the release of flood waters noted in Article 15 of the Ordinance on Dykes shall be regulated as follows:
(a) The Ministry of Water Resources shall approve and issue license for activities and construction projects related to the safety of dykes of category III and higher, and for the release of flood waters that affects two provinces or more.
(b) The People’s Committee of provinces and administrative units of similar levels shall approve and issue licenses for activities and construction projects that are related the safety of dykes of category II or lower and for the release of flood waters that affect their locality only.
2. Any act of drilling, exploiting minerals and construction materials, digging wells, dredging canals that are conducted outside the dyke protected areas shall have to be at a distance of 10 metres away for every metre in depth from the dyke protected areas. Special cases that are exempted from this regulation shall have to adopt measures that assure the safety of the dykes which are approved by the Ministry of Water Resources.

Article 6: Traffic movements that affect the safety of dykes mentioned in Article 16 shall be regulated as follows:
1. Transportation services and owners of means of transportation shall be allowed to use the surface and body of dykes for on-land traffic purposes, and use rivers, channels, sea surface near dykes for water traffic purposes, provided the traffic does not threaten the safety of dykes or seriously affect the release of flood waters.
2. Assuring the safety of dykes shall be given top priority in the case of settlement of problems related to dykes, release of flood waters and traffic.
The Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Communication and Transportation and Post shall be responsible for directing the implementation.

Article 7:
Construction and use of projects that are not part of the dyke protected areas such as big and medium-sized reservoirs, projects that create currents, river and sea ports in areas that have dykes, bridges that go across rivers, shall have to be presented to the Minister of Water Resources and approved both for the cost-effectiveness as well as for operational efficiency.

Article 8:
The Ministry of Water Resources shall coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the Department for Land and Field Management for directing the use of land inside the dyke protected areas ensuring that it is in conformity with the Land Law and the Ordinance on Dykes.

Article 9: The People’s Committee of provinces or administrative units of similar levels shall be responsible for dealing with houses and structures that have been built and affect the functioning of dykes in accordance with the following regulations:
1. All housing and projects that exist inside the areas of dyke protection, regardless of whether they were built before or after the issuance of the Regulations on dyke protection, shall have to be inspected and checked.
2. Appropriate solutions need to be proposed based on the seriousness of the effects of projects on dykes. Solutions should be available for three types of housing and projects as follows:
- Housing and projects that cause serious obstruction to dykes shall have to be removed, and the dykes reinforced thereafter.
- Housing and projects that affect the safety of dykes, but not seriously shall have to be moved or other measures taken to minimize the danger to the dykes.
- Housing and projects that have little effect on dykes can be allowed to continue, provided they operate in accordance with the strict regulations on dyke protection.
3. Policies on financial assistance:
- Housing and projects that were built before the 1963 regulations on dyke protection shall be given a certain amount of financial assistance by the State for moving. A piece of land shall be located for the project ousted of the protected area of dykes as compensation.
- Housing and projects that are built after the Regulations on dyke protection are issued, shall be compensated with a piece of land outside of the dyke protected area only. For disadvantaged families, local authorities should provide assistance to relocate them.
4. Keeping records, categorizing, and dealing with housing and projects that are built inside the dyke protected areas shall have to be conducted with great care. Cases that seriously affect the safety of dykes shall have to be dealt with promptly.

Article 10:
The Ministry of Water Resources shall cooperate with the People’s Committee of provinces and administrative units of similar levels in evaluating the effects that housing and projects located inside the area of dyke protection may cause to the dykes as regulated in item 2 of Article 9; together with related ministries and sectors, it shall present a proposal of policies on financial support as stipulated in item 3 of Article 9 to the Council of Ministers for approval.  

Article 11:
1. The Ministry of Water Resources shall formulate plans for the use of flood control facilities that affect two or more provinces; the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms shall be responsible for proposing solutions for flood control when dykes are endangered by floods to the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers for approval, and together with ministries and localities for organizing the work of flood control following orders from the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers.
2. The settlement of problems in flooded areas resulting from flood control activities shall be carried out in accordance with the following rules:
- The State and the people shall both be responsible for preventing and solving problems caused by flood control activities.
- Prevention shall be the priority activity. When damage and loss occur despite prevention activities, the State shall be responsible for considering and providing assistance to people to enable them to maintain normal life and resume production.
- Local authorities shall encourage the people from other localities to provide support and help to those in flooded areas resulting from flood control activities.
The Ministry of Water Resources shall coordinate with related ministries and localities in formulating concrete policies and presenting them to the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers for final approval.

Article 12:
This Decree shall take effect from the date of issuance. All previous regulations that contradict this Decree are hereby annulled.

Article 13:
The Ministers, Chairperson of the State Planning Committee, Heads of other offices under the Council of Ministers, Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces, cities and special zones under the Central Government shall be responsible for implementing this Decree.
 

Hanoi, September 15, 1990 on Behalf of The Council of Ministers For the chairperson Vice chairperson VO VAN KIET