River Sand Mining And Management: A Case of Cau River In Bac Ninh Province, Vietnam

Sand mining in Cau River in Bac Ninh province, Vietnam has intensified in recent years. Despite the negative impacts of sand mining on the river, local authorities and people have exerted inadequate and ineffective efforts to control the situation as evidenced by the mushrooming of sand mining activities in Cau River. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current sand mining management in Cau River and to give policy recommendations on how to improve this management system. The study shows that illegal sand mining in Cau River is common and indiscriminate due to the huge demand of rivers sand for industrial zone (IZ) ground filling and the construction industry in Bac Ninh province and surrounding areas. The number of illegal sand mining dredges as well as extracted sand volume has soared year after year. Illegal sand mining in Cau River has caused serious riverbank erosion, dike degradation, stone embankment collapse, irrigation work damage, and noise pollution. Analysis of sand mining activities indicates that private profit from illegal sand mining is very large. However, due to high external cost, especially the cost due to stone embankment degradation, the net present values of illegal sand mining were all negative at discount rates of 5 percent and 10 percent. It is clear that the external cost of sand mining in Cau River outweighs the total gain of all sand extractors. Although the local authorities have made efforts in controlling illegal sand mining in Cau River, this activity generally has continued to proliferate. Inadequate legal framework, unclear responsibilities among stakeholders, limited resources for management, and weak coordination among local authorities (nearby localities) all contribute to proliferation of illegal sand mining activities. Of these, limited resources (fund and facilities) and weak coordination among local authorities are the primary ones. Improving the legal framework for sand mining (with clear and heavy penalty), establishing surveillance teams at the commune level, enhancing coordination among local authorities, providing more funds and facilities for management, wider dissemination of information on the external effect of sand mining, and use of alternative materials were seen as feasible strategies to improve sand mining management in Cau River.