Exchange on MAR experiences between DWRM and Finish experts

On December 10, 2024, CRMGG expert Ms. Anke Steinel joined the Finnish expert mission (Jaana Jarva –GTK– and Maria Mäkinen –ELY Center) at the Department for Water Resources Management (DWRM) to discuss experiences of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) and groundwater protection in Finland and how this experience could be adopted for MAR policy development in Vietnam.

The next day, this topic was further elaborated on during a larger workshop chaired by Mr. Ngo Manh Ha (Deputy Director DWRM) and Ms. Maija Seppälä (Counsellor for Development, Embassy of Finland). Mr. Pham Van Tuan (DWRM) explained the current regulations for MAR in Vietnam. The Finnish experts presented the regulations and practical experiences from Finland. CRMGG presented their experiences with Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR), while Prof. Pham Quy Nhan (Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment – HUNRE) and Ms. Dinh Phuong Trang (Deltares) presented practical experiences from MAR in sand dune areas. The workshop closed with a discussion on factors (e.g. source water availability and quality, depth of aquifer, scale of project, awareness raising at local level) to be considered during the development of further MAR guidelines, which would give guidance to the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment (DONREs) on how to deal with future MAR projects in their provinces. DWRM is very interested in receiving further support from the international experts.

Discussion with Mr. Nghia (center) at DWRM on December 10

Participants at the MAR workshop on December 11 (Prof. Nhan, Mr. Nghia, Mr. Ha, left to right)

Presentation from Dr. Anke on MAR experiences from CRMGG

Presentation from Ms. Jaana Jarva (GTK) on MAR applications in Finland