Adequacy of policy and practices for small agricultural dam safety accountability and assurance in Vietnam

We examine safety data pertaining to ten dams in Vietnam and we conduct interviews with stakeholders to determine their perceptions of the adequacy of dam safety policy. All ten dams in our study were rated as ‘high’ hazard and face a high risk of failure due to both physical and management inadequacies. The responsibility and accountability for dam safety has been poorly implemented, leading to low levels of assurance for the communities affected. The evidence suggests that policies pertaining to dam safety accountability and assurance in Vietnam do not yet satisfy international benchmarks. The established policy benchmarks and their key elements provide guidance on both aspirational and essential policy reform in Vietnam; the minimum practice benchmark representing a baseline expectation for developing countries. The original contribution of the paper is two-fold: (i) we assess for the first time the adequacy of dam safety policy and practices in Vietnam and (ii) our process of assessment can be replicated in other similar developing countries for testing the adequacy of dam safety policy against international standards and for identifying any necessary policy reforms.

► Agricultural development in rural provinces in Vietnam is at high risk from dam failures.
► The quality of small dam safety assurance policy in Vietnam needs to be improved.
► Methods of assessing the quality of dam safety assurance policy can be transferred to other jurisdictions.