On March 16, the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment announced that Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang had signed an official dispatch requesting ministries, sectors, localities, and international organizations operating in Vietnam to organize activities in response to World Water Day and World Meteorological Day 2026.
According to the document, response activities this year should prioritize strengthening public awareness of the importance of safeguarding water resources while improving the capacity for hydrometeorological monitoring and forecasting.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment also called for accelerating the implementation of the project on modernizing the hydrometeorological sector for the 2026–2030 period, in tandem with the implementation of the National Hydrometeorological Station Network Plan for 2021–2030, with a vision toward 2050.
Relevant agencies and units were requested to review the current status of observation equipment and develop a centralized management and monitoring system for the entire national hydrometeorological station network. At the same time, efforts should be intensified to digitalize observation logs and promote digital transformation in observation activities, thereby improving forecasting quality and strengthening disaster prevention and mitigation.
The ministry further directed hydrometeorological agencies to continue closely monitoring, forecasting, and promptly issuing warnings about hazardous weather phenomena. Priority should also be given to enhancing the accuracy of rainfall, flood, and storm forecasts while expanding the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and ensuring the effective operation of early warning systems to better serve disaster risk reduction and socio-economic development.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment also called for strengthened communication efforts highlighting the importance of water resources, weather, and climate while encouraging environmentally responsible lifestyles and energy conservation.
Local authorities were urged to focus on implementing tasks aimed at safeguarding national water security, including the completion of strategies and master plans for water resource management. At the same time, localities should promote programs to restore severely depleted and polluted rivers, contributing to the sustainable management and protection of water resources.
