Concerted efforts are needed by HCM City and the 10 provinces in the Dong Nai River basin to improve management of water resources and protect the environment, experts have said.

Dong Nai River, which provides water to millions of HCM City residents, is seriously polluted with ammonium and microorganisms, while manganese concentrations are on the rise.

Pham Hong Luong, director of Cat Tien, said for many years, the board of management of the national park has complained about the infringement of illegal sand exploiters on the Dong Nai River.

Dong Nai River, which runs through many provinces and cities, has received waste water discharge from production workshops, industrial zones (IZ) and fishing village's for years.

Most construction works use illegally exploited sand because legal sources can satisfy only 20 percent of total 120 million cubic meters of sand needed every year.

Officers from southern Dong Nai Province’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment, in co-operation with Bien Hoa Chemical Plant, have successfully collected all hydrochloric acid from a sunken ship

VietNamNet Bridge - The Dong Nai River is under control and protection of many state management agencies, but supervision has been lax. 

The pollution of Dong Nai River has become serious since Vedan’s factory was found discharging untreated waste water into it and Sonadezi discharged dirty water into the Ba Cheo canal. 

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) on Thursday announced that the controversial expansion project into Dong Nai River remains on hold.

VietNamNet Bridge - The northern province has favorable natural conditions to develop the use of artificial sand as natural sand resources in the locality are becoming limited. 

Severe landslides along the Dong Nai River have forced the provinces of Dong Nai and Lam Dong to suspend all sand mining activities, including those by licensed projects.

VietNamNet Bridge - Uncontrolled rampant sand exploitation is seriously affecting Krong Ana and Krong No, two large rivers in the Central Highlands. 

The riverbed is becoming wider, while houses on the two banks are about to fall into the river due to serious erosion. Illegal sand exploitation has spoiled the environment, caused landslides, changing the current, and threatening waterway transport.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Dong Nai Province has suspended all dredging and sand mining projects in the Dong Nai River.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Officials are deeply concerned about the “serious degradation” of water quality in the Dong Nai River basin.

Multiple issues are plaguing dredging projects on the Dong Nai River. Slack licensing, negligent supervision, lack of co-ordination among exploiters and sand mining pirates freely roaming without much hinder were leading to environmental damage

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) has warned that the underground water levels in coastal provinces and cities from Hai Phong City in the north to Ca Mau province in the south have been decreasing dramatically.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Dong Nai provincial authorities have taken action to fight against illegal sand exploitation on rivers and canals. But the situation has not improved. 

The authorities of Dong Nai province have announced that the low dissolved oxygen content in the water of Dong Nai River is the cause of the death of more than 200 tons of fish at fish farms in Tan Mai and Buu Hoa communes in Bien Hoa City.