TRANSITIONING THE WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT MODEL IN VIETNAM TOWARDS REAL-TIME DIGITAL DATA-BASED MONITORING

Abstract

This study analyzes the digital transformation in water environmental management in Vietnam by examining the legal framework, with a primary focus on the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection and the 2023 Law on Water Resources. Employing policy analysis, the research elucidates a fundamental paradigm shift in legislative logic: moving from basic pollution concentration control via periodic sampling to total pollutant load management utilizing continuous, automated monitoring and real-time data. Furthermore, the paper clarifies the principles for calculating this total load by integrating contaminant concentrations with discharge flow rates. Findings indicate that the enactment of Decree 05/2025/ND-CP alongside updated National Technical Regulations not only standardizes input metrics but also establishes a robust legal foundation for administrative penalization mechanisms reliant on electronic evidence. Ultimately, the investigation highlights that synthesizing monitoring statistics from emission sources and the ambient environment into a unified national database is a pivotal solution. This integration facilitates the transition from passive incident response to proactive pollution regulation, thereby effectively supporting river basin carrying capacity governance and circular economy advancement.