Applying nontraditional security management to address critical local water challenges: the case of Hanoi, Vietnam Open Access

Water is life! It influences the health and quality of the environment and humans. Water should be managed as a common good, not a commodity, as highlighted by the UN, 2023 Water Conference (UN-Water, 2023b). Because of its importance, environmental security, including water security (WS), was recognized by the United Nations (UN) in 1994 as one of the seven new dimensions of human security (UN, 1994). Since 2010, access to sufficient and safe water has been regarded as a human right and one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) (# 6).

The working WS concept, defined by UN-Water, (2013), is widely applied because of its inclusiveness: ‘The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability’.

Although countries have made progress in achieving WS, they face issues including increasing water scarcity, water pollution, water-related disasters coupled with health and well-being, and environmental, economic, social, and political impacts (UN-Water, 2023a). Climate change has made the problem worse. WS management has become a critical challenge, particularly in developing countries with limited resources (Suriyanarayanan et al., 2024).

Nontraditional Security (NTS) is often mentioned as threats originating from nonmilitary sources, shifting the concept of security from state- or military-centric to individual- and human-centric. These threats refer to ‘challenges to the survival and well-being of peoples and states’ (Caballero-Anthony, 2016). Addressing them requires comprehensive responses, including political, economic, social, and humanitarian use of military force, as they are transboundary in nature (NTS Centre, 2023). Successful securitization of NTS issues emphasizes attention and resources needed to tackle them and, more importantly, not in a traditional manner (Caballero-Anthony, 2016).

To highlight the severity for developing countries, WS has been classified as an NTS threat by scholars (c.f., Caballero-Anthony, 2016; El-Sayed & Mansour, 2017; Hoang et al., 2022), especially from the global South, and as part of national security by some governments (Hough, 2021). In Vietnam, the government categorized WS as one of the NTS issues in a document of the 8th National Congress of the Communist Party in 2022 (Conclusion 36-KL/TW). WS was stipulated in the revised Law on Water Resources in November 2023.

Most studies focus on assessing the WS index (Octavianti & Staddon, 2021). Fewer studies concern WS management (WSM) effectiveness, which shows the relationship between WSM measures and their effect on WS status. Most studies assess WS governance dimensions using indicators, characterizing high-level governance of policy and legislation. Specifically, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2018b) developed a framework for assessing water governance, which was applied by Martín Velasco et al., (2023) and Ahopelto et al., (2024). The former identified local water governance challenges in Argentina. The latter analyzed the institutional strengths and challenges of water governance for WS in Finland. While the OECD's framework focuses purely on the governance dimension of WS based on an analysis of policy and legislation, it lacks specific guidance on assessing the local water management effectiveness and the causal connection to the management outcome. Duncan et al., (2019) assessed water resource management effectiveness when examining integrated water resource management (IWRM) implementation as a means to achieve WS in the Pra Basin in Ghana.

The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, developed by Ostrom, (2011), has been widely used to assess the effectiveness of environmental management, including water resource management. As a supplement to the OECD method, the IAD can be applied to assess WSM effectiveness concerning water regulations Ak & Benson, (2022) applied IAD to assess the WSM effectiveness of two river basins in Turkey and the United States. Wheater, (2015) complimented IAD by identifying WSM challenges, including the complex management of a human-natural system and the requirement of a new transdisciplinary science. Overcoming these challenges will support the development of science-based policy and management.

In summary, the assessment of WSM should include not only policy and legislation dimensions but also other aspects and the complex management of human and natural systems.

Vietnam, as a developing country, is also confronting critical WS challenges, particularly in dense urban areas, including water pollution, partial water shortages, insecurity of domestic water supply, and flooding (WBG, 2019). Solving these issues is a long-term process. It requires not only investment in water infrastructure but also a reformation and enforcement of policy and legislation and collaboration of all stakeholders (authors' synthesis and WBG, 2019).

A few studies on WS have been conducted in Vietnam. Nationally, the World Bank Group (WBG) carried out a holistic assessment of the national water resource security system, focusing on water risk (WBG, 2019). The studies included a qualitative analysis of general water resource management challenges, although not specifically for WSM. Since 2013, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has regularly conducted an assessment using the national WS index for Asian Pacific countries. This method considers water-related disasters, rural household water, economic water, urban water, and environmental water (ADB, 2020). Furthermore, a security perspective was qualitatively developed based on the analysis of the current status and challenges of Vietnam's water resources (Pham et al., 2023).

Regionally, several WS scientific studies were carried out. These include, e.g., the WS index of the Red River Delta (Dang et al., 2017), the transboundary WS assessment framework and evolving pathways toward WS in the Mekong River Delta (Truong et al., 2023; Tran et al., 2024), and WS assessment for the Vu Gia – Thu Bon River Basin (Dang et al., 2024). Provincially, the WS index was assessed for Quang Ngai (Hieu et al., 2021) and Hanoi (Chapagain et al., 2022). Except for the study by Tran et al., (2024) on evolving pathways toward WS in the Mekong River Delta, applying an adaptive management perspective, other studies focused on assessing WS. Particularly, they assessed the WS index by developing and aggregating indicators: a simplified methodology of ADB, (2020) from Dang et al., (2017); working WS concept of the UN-Water (2013) and ‘Driving Forces-Pressure-State-Impact-Response’ approach from Truong et al., (2023); process analysis methods from Dang et al., (2024); working WS concept of UN-Water, (2013) and expert method from Hieu et al., (2021); and integration of WS assessment framework of Aboelnga et al., (2019) and Babel et al., (2020) following the working WS concept of UN-Water, (2013) from Chapagain et al., (2022).

These studies mostly focused on the technical aspects of WS. Other dimensions, e.g., environmental/water justice and social equity/equality, awareness, and behavior change, were not emphasized. Furthermore, studies directly assessing WSM effectiveness to better support policy-making in a more inclusive manner are rare. It requires approaches to direct the assessment of WSM effectiveness. These approaches facilitate the first tier of the evidence-based policy-making process in a more straightforward and context-based manner, especially at local levels.

WS is multidimensional and interdisciplinary in nature. This viewpoint has been promoted by scholars (e.g., James & Shafiee-Jood, 2017; Rafaai & Lee, 2024). Effective WSM should consider a context-based approach and a causal, multidimensional relationship between WSM measures and their outcome as WS status. Otherwise, incomplete understanding, poor WSM decisions, and malpractice will arise. Identification of WSM effectiveness can help to address critical water challenges under management and context-based perspectives. However, research on the assessment of WSM effectiveness is little known, as mentioned in Section 1.1.2. This is also true at the local level and in the context of developing countries like Vietnam, where NTS threats, including WS, have emerged and negatively impacted the society. Two questions need to be addressed: How can the assessment of WSM effectiveness help to address critical water challenges? Is it possible to develop an approach to the assessment of WSM effectiveness, which complements existing methods and can address critical WS challenges in a nontraditional and more effective manner? (For example, a novel WSM philosophy of thinking, which is applicable for localities?)

Management of nontraditional security (MNS) is often referred to as transnational cooperation in the management of transboundary threats, particularly in Asia (Caballero-Anthony, 2016). MNS centers on people rather than the military security of a nation. MNS studies concentrate on transnational approaches in addressing NTS issues. At the local level, there is no management framework that can be streamlined to support local authorities in making decisions in confronting NTS, including WS. Therefore, it is necessary to facilitate local decision-making authorities, who often lack expert knowledge, based on interdisciplinary/multidimensional data. An MNS concept developed by Hoang et al., (2022) states ‘the process through which responsible organizations and/or authorized people make decisions to ensure the safety, stability, and sustainable development of subjects/actors and/or referent objects’ (p. 698). This illustrates the cause-and-effect relationship between management/decision measures and their outcomes as security status. This designates the security management measure as the cost of risk management (i.e., investment) and the cost of crisis and post-crisis recovery management (i.e., losses). Security management outcomes are the security status (benefits), including safety, stability, and sustainability. This security status has a wider sense than the literal meaning of security, indicating ‘the state of being free of danger or threat’ (Oxford Dictionary) or simply being safe. This school of thought complements existing research methods and it emphasizes preparedness as risk management: if the cost of risk management is sufficient and effective, it can prevent a crisis from occurring or minimize its impacts. Subsequently, the extra cost of crisis and post-crisis recovery management will be lower, and the security status will be higher (authors' justification). The MNS concept is detailed in Section 2.1.

This study addresses critical water challenges at the local level pertinent to developing countries by assessing WSM effectiveness under an MNS perspective. It includes two objectives as follows:

• - First, detailing Hoang et al., (2022)'s MNS concept to assess WSM effectiveness using Hanoi as a case study.

• - Second, contributing a multidimensional assessment approach in a straightforward and novel philosophy for data-driven policymaking in the field of WSM.

A list of abbreviations used in this manuscript is provided in Table 1 for easier understanding.

The objectives of this study are as follows: first, the nontraditional security management concept of Hoang et al., (2022) is elaborated in Section 2.1. and second, the application of this concept to the assessment of water security management with the case of Hanoi city in Vietnam is provided in Section 2.2.

In this section, the authors elaborate on components of nontraditional security management, including management cost, status, and management effectiveness of nontraditional security.

Management measurement of NTS is represented by management cost or MNS cost. This refers to a broader sense of cost in the form of resources, such as money, time, and human capacities, or intangible values (natural capital), such as ecosystem services, human health, and well-being. Although risk can be negative and positive, in this study, the authors adopt the definition of disaster risk of the Sendai framework (UNDRR, 2007). This is because the authors want to focus on the potential adverse impacts of a risk, which demand priority and resources to manage. When a risk occurs, it can become a crisis (Coombs, 2019). It indicates ‘a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger’ (Oxford Dictionary) that can cause ‘human, material, economic and environmental losses and impacts’ (UNDRR, 2007). When the worst of the crisis is over, post-crisis recovery (UN-SPIDER, 2023) takes place to get back to the normal state of a referent object. Therefore, MNS cost includes the cost of risk management and the cost of crisis and post-crisis recovery management.

As mentioned before, the security status has a wider sense rather than being safe (Section 1.1.2, Approach to the Management of Nontraditional Security). Particularly, the authors adopt the definition of security stipulated in the Law on National Security 2004 of Vietnam and the UN World Commission on Environment and Development's concept of sustainable development (WCED, 1987) to define security status, including safety, stability, and sustainability, respectively. Safety must be the highest priority and represent the fundamental functional status of a referent object. Stability is the predictable and consistent status on the condition of an achieved safety status. Sustainability is the ability to maintain a certain level of safety and stability status not only for the current but also for future generations.

The MNS effectiveness can be flexibly measured/assessed by the difference or the ratio of MNS cost and security status or assessment of their cause-and-effect relationship.

This section details the application of the MNS concept to identify the WSM effectiveness in Hanoi. First, the study area of Hanoi is described with general information and current water issues (Section 2.2.1). Water and water security-related studies in Hanoi are discussed. Second, a framework is developed to assess WSM in Hanoi by applying the MNS concept (Section 2.2.2). The water system of Hanoi is defined. Methods to assess WSM cost, WS status, and WSM effectiveness are provided. Finally, Section 2.2.3 describes how primary data and secondary data are collected and processed.

Hanoi, the capital, is located in the North of Vietnam. With a population of over 8.3 million inhabitants (GSO, 2022), it is the largest city by area and the second most populous and economically developed city in Vietnam. Hanoi has an area of over 330,000 m² and 30 administrative units: 17 rural districts and 13 urban districts. Approximately 50% of the city population lives in rural areas (GSO, 2022). The city has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate with an annual precipitation level of about 1,700 mm. Hanoi has a dense network of seven rivers and hundreds of lakes and ponds. Delta, midland, and mountainous areas are three main types of terrain in Hanoi (Hanoi Portal, 2015). Pressure from population growth, rapid urbanization, economic development, and impacts of climate change are challenging the infrastructure and WSM capability of the city. This has led to significant environmental and water crises in Hanoi. These include water pollution, domestic water supply insecurity, and urban flooding (WBG, 2020), representing issues that most urban municipalities in Vietnam are facing. Without proper implementation of WSM measures, Hanoi will continue confronting increasing multidimensional water-related losses, preventing it from achieving sustainable water goals by 2030 (Plan 312/KH-UBND, 2021) and beyond.

There are only a few research studies on WS in Hanoi. The majority focus on one or a few technical aspects or environmental parameters of water: arsenic pollution (Winkel et al., 2011; Glodowska et al., 2021), water quality in schools (Hung et al., 2020), and domestic water services (Bui et al., 2022), or water pollution and flooding (WBG 2020). Besides these, Hoang et al., (2023) and Chapagain et al., (2022) were concerned with WS in Hanoi. The former applied the initial MNS concept of Hoang et al., (2022) by describing the safety, stability, sustainability, and crisis management of tap water in Hanoi. However, it lacks details to support the relationship between security status and management cost. The latter (i.e., Chapagain et al., 2022) conducted a comparative assessment of urban WS for five Asian cities, including Hanoi. An urban WS index was assessed by developing and aggregating indicators. Hanoi had a relatively good WS index. Nevertheless, not much relevant data were provided to convince this assessment, although the indicators are comprehensive. Chapagain et al., (2022) focused mainly on technical aspects. It can be seen that studies on WS in Hanoi have given little attention to management dimensions. Successfully addressing critical water challenges in Hanoi from the management perspective would be an exemplar for other similar cities in Vietnam and developing countries.

This section details the application of the above-mentioned MNS concept and IAD method of Ostrom, (2011) to assess WSM effectiveness in Hanoi (Figure 1). Hanoi's water system consists of water-related ecosystems, source water, water infrastructure, and water products and functions. Methods to assess WSM cost, WS status, and WSM effectiveness are elaborated. Here, dimensions and indicators for assessing WSM cost and WS status are provided. Three levels of rating, including high, medium, and low, are used for the assessment.

The interaction between dimensions of WSM cost and components within the water system illustrates the action arena or water system action situation and WS status as management outcomes in the IAD framework (see Figure 1).

The water system of Hanoi manifests a natural-artificial water cycle, including water-related ecosystems, infrastructure, and public water products and functions.

• - Water-related ecosystems are where the water cycle is regulated, e.g., generation, storage, and absorption. They consist of surface water, as in rivers, lakes, and ponds; underground water; and forest and green space. They track with the common-pool resources in the IAD.

• - Water-related infrastructure concerns resources invested to manage water for usage and protect water-related ecosystems. They include domestic and irrigation water management and wastewater, solid waste, and drainage management.

• - Water products and functions originate from domestic water, irrigation water, and the function of drainage systems.

The authors define dimensions and corresponding indicators for assessing WSM cost and WS status mainly based on concepts of WS from UN-Water, (2013); IWRM (GWP, 2000); UN's SDG # 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17; and OECD's (2018b) water governance framework (Table 2). Although the MNS is inspired by the CBA concept, which usually uses monetary units to measure cost and benefit, in this study, we use qualitative ratings. This is due to the above-mentioned definition of management cost and security status (Sections 2.1.1 and 2.1.2). Some impacts/losses from humans, pollution, or intangible value of nature, cannot be assigned a monetary value. Therefore, the qualitative rating must suffice. The rating can be subjectively defined by researchers and research context. For the case of WSM in this study, dimensions were assessed via indicators using qualitative and quantitative data with three ratings of ‘high’, ‘medium’, or ‘low’. Table 2 provides data sources of ratings and Sections 4.1 and 4.2 for specific arguments for rating results.

• • Assessing the cost of risk management

• This indicates investment in WSM measures as existing water-related policy and legislation and their implementation/enforcement. It correlates to the ‘rule-in-use’ in the IAD. Five interrelated dimensions used for assessment are as follows:

• • - The policy and legislation dimension refers to the coordinated management of water, land, and related resources concerning policy and legislation and mechanisms to implement it.

  • - The technical dimension refers to the investment in the community's technical capacity.

  • - The social dimension refers to the investment to achieve environmental and social equality as the universal, fair, and equal access to water-related services.

  • - The economic dimension refers to the investment in management and implementation measures to achieve the affordability of water-related services at levels of water service providers and households.

  • - The awareness and behavior dimension refers to the investment in management and implementation measures to improve awareness and change the behavior of citizens.

The existence and enforcement of water-related policy and legislation are manifested in the investment in other dimensions.

• Assessingthe cost of crisis and post-crisis recovery management

This refers to losses and impacts from the cost of crisis and post-crisis recovery management.

• Assessing WS status

WS status is assessed by five dimensions: (1) Water quality, (2) Water quantity, (3) Drainage system function, (4) Affordability, and (5) Environmental/water justice and social equality. Safety status relates to the first three dimensions. Stability and sustainability status relate to all five dimensions.

Table 2 provides further details on dimensions and corresponding indicators for assessing WSM cost and WS status.

There is a close relationship between the cost of the crisis, post-crisis recovery management, and WS status. Therefore, reasons and data sources for their indicators will be used interchangeably (Table 2) and arguments for assessment results/discussion will be presented together (Section 4.2).

WSM effectiveness is qualitatively assessed by analyzing the causal relationship and comparing the difference of ratings between WSM cost and WS status (Table 3).

Data, mostly from secondary sources, were collected for all components within the water system in Hanoi from 2020 to 2024 (see Supplementary Material 1).

Primary data were collected from an online survey and interviews, site observations, and personal communications with experts/specialists.

• - Interviews were conducted in person and via online survey (via Google Forms). Interviews and personal communications with experts/specialists were conducted for domestic water management and water-related ecosystems in 2022 (see Supplementary Materials 2.1 and 2.2). The online survey and interviews were semi-structured. All answers were reviewed and cross-checked in case of necessity. Cross-checking was done by further in-depth interviews. In this way, responses that delivered unreliable, conflicting, and irrelevant information were eliminated. Subsequently, qualified responses from more than 100 households across all districts in Hanoi were selected for further analysis.

• - Personal communications with experts/specialists were conducted to supplement the household online survey, in-depth interviews, and secondary data: Experts/specialists were selected for personal communications based on their expertise and availability. They consist of an aquatic ecological senior researcher from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and three specialists from three domestic water treatment plants of Sông Đà, Sông Đuống, and Yên Phụ in Hanoi (see Supplementary Materials 3.1 and 3.2).

• - Visual or sensory site observations were conducted for most components within the water system of Hanoi. This method was inherited from technical experiences and the secondary data from an empirical study conducted in Hanoi by Tran & Weichgrebe, (2020).

The secondary data were synthesized from three major sources:

• - Research studies and national environmental thematic reports from the Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and technical reports from international development organizations (e.g., the World Bank Group (WBG, 2019, 2020) and Asian Development Bank (ADB, 2020)) were utilized.

• - Institutions/authorities' statements and expert opinions were collected mainly from thematic workshops, training courses, and mass media (e.g., public/professional websites and YouTube). The most relevant institutions/authorities are Hanoi's Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE), Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Construction (DoC), and People's Committees at city, district, and commune levels.

Table 4 summarizes the findings estimated for WSM cost, WS status, and WSM effectiveness. Specific arguments for these results are provided in Sections 4.1 and 4.2. As indicated in Table 4, the WSM effectiveness has an overall low rating. This is because the cost of risk management is higher at a low rating (LLM), the cost of crisis and post-crisis recovery management is closer to a high rating, and consequently, the WS status is more at a low rating. Domestic water is the only process that shows better ratings of WSM cost and WS status.

This section provides reasons and assessment results for the investment in water security risk management for five dimensions. Only the technical dimension is assessed for specific components/processes within the water system. The investment has an overall low rating, except for domestic water with a close to medium rating. The remaining dimensions are assessed as an aggregated rating, with ratings mainly ranging from low to medium levels.

The water management framework appears relatively sound in terms of policy and laws. However, the guidance documents, including regulations, are fragmented and sometimes overlapping, conflicting, unstable, infeasible, and insufficiently updated (Nguyen, 2012; WBG, 2019). The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment are mainly responsible for implementing two major water-related laws: Water Resources 2012 (revised in November 2023, enforced in June 2024) and Environmental Protection 2020. At the local level of Hanoi city, water management is accomplished by people's committees, sectoral departments (Natural Resources and Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development, Construction, Health, and Finance), and other institutions (Police Department for Environment, Project Management Unit, Drainage and Sewerage Company). This legislative/administrative system has created overlapping and conflicting responsibilities among state ministries and Hanoi's authorities and interagencies. There is a lack of investment in infrastructure and capacity building for water regulation implementation (e.g., inspection and monitoring) (WBG, 2020). Therefore, it has resulted in a complex and fragmented institutional mechanism and often requires huge coordination. In essence ‘everybody's business is nobody's business’. Consequently, the enforcement of legal regulations is weak, and the implementation of water projects is ineffective (c.f., WBG, 2019, 2020). The lack of legal mechanisms to protect and ensure investors' benefits also leads to low investment interest (VTC Now, 2022), particularly from the private sector.

The authors assigned a medium rating for the policy and legislation framework and a low rating for the quality of under-law and guidance documents, capacity building, and implementation/enforcement.

Investment in wastewater and solid waste management, domestic water production, and urban drainage systems in Hanoi is inadequate according to the following analysis. Specifically, the majority is capital expenditure investment (i.e., Capex, expense for physical infrastructure). The operation expenditure (Opex, e.g., expense for operation and maintenance) is insignificant (WBG, 2019, 2020).

Domestic wastewater is the major contributor (approximately 80%) to wastewater (load and volume) in Hanoi (WBG, 2020). There are eight ongoing municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) with a total capacity of approximately 300,000 m³/day (Plan 312/KH-UBND, 2021), responding to only 30% of urban-generated wastewater. However, the actual treatment rate is only 17–20% because not all wastewater is collected and transported to WWTP due to low sewer connection rates (author's synthesis). Industrial wastewater (16% of total load) from industrial parks and clusters (12%) and craft villages (4%) is not properly treated (WBG, 2020). Nationwide, most industrial parks are equipped with WWTP (approximately 90%) with design capacities meeting about 70% of total wastewater effluent. Under the current wastewater crisis, we estimate a similar treatment rate for Hanoi. For industrial clusters, only 36% are equipped with WWTP with a total treatment capacity of less than 30%. Many industrial WWTPs do not fully operate to save costs or simply accept the violation fine, which is much lower than the treatment cost, resulting in much lower actual treatment rates (MONRE, 2018; WBG, 2019, 2020). Investment in WWTP for craft villages is significantly deficient, leading to almost no wastewater treatment (Tran & Weichgrebe, 2020; WBG, 2020).

The authors assigned an overall low rating for the wastewater management system.

The overall clean water access in Hanoi is about 90% (clean or tap water indicates water produced from the city's water treatment plants) (authors' synthesis). However, investment in water treatment plants/stations, pipeline networks, and operation and maintenance (O&P) in rural areas is significantly inadequate and ineffective (hanoimoi.com.vn, 2022b). Insufficient investment in appropriate treatment technologies and operation and maintenance of the entire supply system has resulted in unqualified clean water quality or even abandoned treatment facilities (VTC Now, 2022). As an example, over 24% of 119 rural water stations stopped working, and less than 50% can function properly (Hanoi DONRE, 2019). Furthermore, investment in controlling source water quality (i.e., input for water treatment plants) is inadequate, e.g., for maintaining water source protection corridors, domestic water safeguard zones, and automatic, virtual monitoring systems.

The authors assigned a low to medium rating for the domestic water management system.

• Sewer drainage network

In Hanoi, only a quarter of the city, in the Tô Lịch river catchment, is equipped with an appropriate sewer system; and the sewer connection rate is about 60% (vovgiaothong.vn, 2022). The remainder lacks a synchronic investment, especially in the western districts (Plan 312/KH-UBND, 2021). The critical situation of the sewer network is additionally complicated by urban planning issues, slow and ineffective implementation of projects, and lack of synchronization of the draining system (baogiaothong.vn, 2022; tuoitre.vn, 2022). Most sewer networks are combined systems for wastewater and rainwater, naturally gravitational, and in critical lack of maintenance. Therefore, they are often functional, obsolete, patchy, messy, and overloaded (WBG, 2019, 2020).

• Nature-based drainage

There is an insignificant investment in nature-based solutions (e.g., rivers, ponds and lakes, urban trees, green infrastructure, and sustainable drainage systems) to facilitate drainage capacity. Furthermore, the number and area of ponds and lakes have reduced dramatically due to rapid urbanization. Between 2010 and 2015, 17 lakes (corresponding to 72,540 m²) in Hanoi were filled (CECR, 2015). Between 2015 and 2020, the city lost over 2,000,000 m² of natural surface water (tienphong.vn, 2022a). Hanoi has a green space of only 11.7% (nguoidothi.net.vn, 2020) with very low forest coverage of 5.59% and urban trees of 2–3 m²/person (Plan 57/KH-UBND, 2022). Contrary to recommendations and technical regulations (e.g., a green space of 30% (Van Den Bosch et al., 2016), an urban tree of 7 m²/person (QCVN 01:2021/BXD) and 9 m²/person (WHO, 2012), and 15 m²/person from the UN's Habitat (Data-Driven EnviroLab, 2022)), Hanoi critically lacks a green infrastructure.

The authors assigned an overall low rating for the drainage management system.

Insufficient and ineffective investment in solid waste management infrastructure negatively impacts surface water and groundwater quality in Hanoi (WBG, 2019, 2020). Infrastructure and technologies from collection to disposal are mainly outdated and resource-intensive (c.f., Hoang & Fogarassy, 2020; vietnamnews.vn, 2023). Waste separation at the source is not a common practice due to the absence of infrastructure. The waste collection system is mainly manual, labor-intensive, and ineffective. Hanoi announced the waste collection of 100% for urban areas and approximately 90% for rural areas (tienphong.vn, 2022a). However, actual rates are possibly much lower as waste appears almost ubiquitous in public areas and open water bodies (c.f., nghenghiepcuocsong.vn, 2021). Polluting waste transfer stations and illegal dumpsites are not rare. Landfilling is the major treatment technology for most collected waste (89%), and the remainder (11%) is incinerated (vietnamnet.vn, 2020). Antiquated landfill technologies are polluting and severely degrading groundwater and surface water quality. With a daily waste generation of 7,000 metric tons, Hanoi often faces waste disposal crises as all landfills are overloaded (c.f., vietnamnet.vn, 2021), and waste generation per capita is increasing.

The authors assigned a low rating for solid waste management.

Water price ranges are regulated by the Law on Environmental Protection, Law on Water Resources, Law on Irrigation, Law on Fees and Charges, Law on Prices, etc., and guided by under-law documents and finally specified by Hanoi City's People's Committee. However, the lack of specific economic tools and effective pricing mechanisms is the reason for hindering the financial autonomy/affordability of water service providers and triggering ineffective water use (c.f., WBG, 2019, 2020; xaydungchinhsach.chinhphu.vn, 2023).

The authors assigned a low to medium rating for the economic dimension.

Investment in water and waste infrastructure and services differs between urban and rural areas (hanoimoi.com.vn, 2022b). There is a critical lack of wastewater treatment facilities and adequate solid waste management systems. Investors, particularly from the private sector, hesitate to invest in rural water-related projects because of limited economic benefits and financial risks (c.f., VIR, 2021).

Although human rights to water and the environment were recognized by the UN in 2010 and 2022, respectively, awareness and behaviors toward environment/water justice are inadequate. Therefore, people who suffer environmental/water injustice, e.g., adverse impacts of polluted irrigation water on crop production and health, do not know how to seek help to protect their rights. This is due to the lack of specific legal mechanisms to support residents claiming these rights, which is the main reason for this inequality (WBG, 2019).

The authors assigned a low to medium rating for the social dimension.

The authors' survey shows most residents are aware of WS issues in Hanoi. However, investment in raising awareness failed to produce good behavior (WBG, 2020). More specifically, many education and communication programs are short-term (project-based), fragmented, and superficial. Additionally, the lack of effective economic regulatory tools for fees and tariffs of water services is a major reason hindering sustainable practices in water use, e.g., saving irrigation water and clean water. According to the authors' survey and secondary data, current prices of water services are not a concern or strong economic motivation to promote sustainable water practices for most of Hanoi's citizens. This survey showed that for the majority of residents (90%), especially urban households, the clean water price of 6,000 VND/m³ (i.e., 2.5 US$ cent/m³ for the first 10 m³) was acceptable or relatively cheap (since July 2023 the price has increased 25% after 10 years of no change). The current clean water price in Hanoi is comparable to or lower than other provinces in Vietnam (xaydungchinhsach.chinhphu.vn, 2023). Excessive subsidies make water users take water-related services for granted (c.f., UN Environment, 2018; WBG, 2019, 2020). Besides, weak enforcement of regulations (e.g., sanctioning of violations and economic incentives), lack of transparency (e.g., data openness and sharing), and infrastructure investment (e.g., waste bins in public areas, dedicated water conservation zones) result in a low level of residents' trust in the WSM system and negative behaviors in water and environmental protection, e.g., illegal discharge of solid waste in public areas, sewers, and open water bodies (c.f., WBG, 2020).

The authors assigned a medium rating for the awareness and a low rating for the behavior change dimension.

This section provides reasons and assessment results for losses as the cost of the WS crisis and post-crisis recovery management and water security status. Overall, the losses are from medium to high ratings. In contrast, the water security status ranges from low to medium ratings.

The quality of surface water is mainly at low levels, represented by the heavy pollution (based on the Vietnam water quality index or visual phenomenon) of most rivers, lakes, and ponds, especially in the inner city and in the dry season.

• River

The water quality of the upstream rivers and suburban areas of the Red – Thái Bình River basin is from medium to good level. However, the water of the Đáy – Nhuệ rivers and rivers flowing across the inner city of Hanoi was heavily polluted. River water quality in suburban areas is generally at average levels, except for sections flowing across craft villages and small-scale production establishments (MONRE, 2018, 2022; WBG, 2020).

• Lakes and ponds

The authors estimate that just 10% of lakes and ponds in the inner city have acceptable water quality, the remainder are polluted at varying levels. In rural areas, about 30% of lakes and ponds are polluted with water quality from very low to low levels, especially in the areas where craft villages and extensive production establishments are located. Around 30% have water quality at a slightly below-average level, and 40% have water quality at a medium level (CECR, 2015; daidoanket.vn, 2016; vietnamnet.vn, 2016).

Some river sections, lakes, and ponds have been restored, and their water quality has been improved. However, the situation of surface water quality, especially in rural areas, is not stable. This is because of river incidents such as landslides, flash floods from the upstream provinces, and the illegal discharge of wastewater and solid waste; i.e., the sources of pollution are not addressed.

The surface water level in Hanoi tends to gradually decrease over the years, particularly in the dry season. The situation is more critical because of the discharge of untreated wastewater and solid waste into water bodies. This has resulted in the accumulation of sediment in the bottom of water bodies and decreased storage volume (WBG, 2020).

Pollution of surface water has long been a crisis in Hanoi. It has negatively impacted the health and well-being of residents living along rivers, canals, lakes, and ponds. The World Bank estimated about 50% of Hanoi's population lives in heavily wastewater-polluted areas (WBG, 2020). Moreover, it has caused considerable economic losses from crop and aquaculture production and raw water sources for domestic water supply and social instability due to economic restructuring or environmental migration (vietnamnews.vn, 2022). Incidents of massive fish deaths at many lakes in Hanoi occur every year. These threaten the economic potential and cultural and social lives of the impacted areas and the city in general.

The authors assigned a medium to high rating for the cost of crisis and post-crisis recovery management and an overall low to medium rating for WS status for surface water.

• Irrigation water

Pollution of surface water has led to the degradation of irrigation water. Many irrigation canals are severely contaminated due to untreated wastewater discharge (vietnamnews.vn, 2022). There are 726 illegal discharge points of wastewater into the irrigation system in Hanoi (hanoimoi.com.vn, 2022a) and nearly 300 violation cases of illegal wastewater discharge into the major irrigation system Bắc Hưng Hải in the first 4 months of 2022 (vtv.vn, 2022).

Water pollution and consequential water shortage, use of groundwater as an alternative source or pumping water from other rivers to dilute the pollution, production restructuring, or environmental immigration (vietnamnews.vn, 2022) have caused significantly negative impacts on crop cultivation, economic losses, health, and well-being of households/farmers living along polluted river basins and canals.

The authors assigned a medium to high rating for the cost of crisis and post-crisis management and an overall low to medium rating for WS status for irrigation water.

Groundwater has a low WS status with higher costs associated with decreasing water levels and contamination of arsenic, amoni, mangan, ferrous, and organic substances, particularly in the south of Hanoi (c.f., Winkel et al., 2011; Vu et al., 2022). Groundwater pollution is mainly caused by the contamination of waste leachate from uncontrolled solid waste disposal and agricultural and animal-raising activities. Groundwater in the inner-city areas, where water was overexploited, was estimated at a low level (nawapi.gov.vn, 2022). However, it has been improved at some locations after the city restricted groundwater exploitation. Although Hanoi has relatively good groundwater potential with 8.2 million m³/day, overexploitation has contributed to the incidents/crises of groundwater pollution and groundwater level decline, land subsidence, and salt intrusion (Phi & Strokova, 2015; moitruong.net.vn 2022; Trần Đức Hạ, 2022). In rural areas, the groundwater level where water has been exploited is at low to slightly below medium levels (MONRE, 2022).

The groundwater crises have caused significant impacts on human health, water supply, economic losses, daily life, and social stability in the areas of impact.

The authors assigned a medium to high rating for the cost of crisis and post-crisis recovery management cost and an overall low to medium rating for WS status for the groundwater.

In general, the quality of domestic water produced from large-scale water treatment plants (i.e., clean water) meets the technical regulations of the Ministry of Health. However, water produced by a number of small-scale water treatment plants/stations in rural areas, particularly from groundwater, is contaminated at different levels (CDC Hanoi, 2023). Domestic water also faces challenges due to the inconsistent quality of source water and contamination from distribution pipeline networks and storage facilities in many locations (VIR, 2022). In rural areas, about 10% of the population has to use rainwater and groundwater due to the lack of clean water access (authors' synthesis). This group suffers from unqualified and inconsistent domestic water quality. The authors' survey shows that water users in Hanoi largely lack trust in domestic water quality. Therefore, most households (>80%) are equipped with home-based domestic water filtration systems, which is an increasing trend. Domestic water shortages occur in some urban and rural areas where there are clean water quality crises and water cuts due to pipeline breaks or water incidents. The contamination crisis of source water in the Đà River in 2019 made ‘Hanoians in torment as tap water turns oily’ (e.vnexpress.net, 2019), and the contaminaton incident in Cun Spring in September 2022 showed other vulnerabilities in the domestic water supply system. This situation has eroded Hanoi's residents' confidence and trust in the domestic WS system. It negatively impacted daily activities, potential health issues, and unnecessary economic losses, e.g., from buying bottled water and home-based water filtration systems.

The authors assigned a medium to high rating for the cost of the crisis and post-crisis recovery management and an overall low to medium rating for WS status for the domestic water.

Urban flooding in Hanoi has become worse with increasing frequency and consequences (WBG, 2020; Thiện et al., 2023). Currently, there are 11 flood hotspots in Hanoi. The western districts and suburban districts of Long Biên and Gia Lâm are the most affected areas (WBG, 2020; Plan 312/KH-UBND, 2021). A study conducted by Thiện et al., (2023) for flooding events reported by mass media (public websites) in Hanoi between 2012 and 2022 showed that there were 50 rain and storm events causing 200 flooding points in 16 districts. The study also indicated increased flooding points over time, with the highest in 2022 with 144 points. The majority of flooding points were located in the urban districts of Hoàn Kiếm, Cầu Giấy, and Đống Đa. However, they have gradually expanded to rural districts. The frequency of flooding events in urban districts was much higher than that in rural districts. Flooding has caused damage and costly environmental, health and well-being, economic, and social consequences (WBG, 2020).

The authors assigned a medium to high rating for the cost of crisis and post-crisis recovery management and an overall low to medium rating for WS status for the drainage system function.

Although current water fees and tariffs support affordability at household levels, they hinder the financial autonomy of public water service providers. Particularly, water prices are too low and insufficient to fully cover the operation and maintenance of public water service providers (c.f., WBG, 2019, 2020). For example, the wastewater fee is included and accounts for 10% of the clean water price. This covers only fees for wastewater collection. Payment for clean water fees for the consumption of less than 10 m³ makes up only 0.72% of urban household income/month (xaydungchinhsach.chinhphu.vn, 2023). The current pricing mechanism is only sufficient for very basic services, such as wastewater collection. The remaining expensive activities, such as the treatment of wastewater and solid waste and irrigation water services, are largely subsidized by the government (c.f., UN Environment, 2018; WBG, 2019, 2020).

The authors assigned an overall low (water service providers) to medium (household) rating for the affordability dimension of WS status.

Differences in water-related infrastructure investment and limitations of legal and institutional mechanisms have resulted in unequal access to water-related services and environmental/water injustice in some cases. While 100% of households in urban areas of Hanoi have access to clean water services, in rural areas only 85% have access (hanoimoi.com.vn, 2022b). Many rural areas lack clean water access, e.g., in districts of Sóc Sơn, Thạch Thất, Ba Vì, Chương Mỹ (c.f., nhipsonghanoi.hanoimoi.com.vn, 2020; hanoimoi.com.vn, 2021), and Đan Phượng. Rural households also have to suffer the environmental consequences of untreated wastewater and prevalent illegal garbage dumpsites. These contaminate local water resources and subsequently impact health, well-being, and economic benefits, especially from agricultural activities. For example, farmers cultivating crops and aquaculture along the heavily polluted irrigation system of Bắc Hưng Hải và other canals in Hanoi tolerate health and economic losses, although the pollution is caused by other actors (vietnamnews.vn, 2022).

The authors assigned an overall low to medium rating for the environmental/water justice and social equality dimension of WS status.

Hanoi is implementing water-related projects/programs (Table 5). However, the majority of them are significantly behind schedule (see Section 4.1.2). The existing challenges of ineffective WSM (Sections 3, 4.1, and 4.2) indicate that it would be overly optimistic that Hanoi can achieve even a medium rating of WS status by 2030 and its vision for 2050.

Table 5 presents some indicators of the current WSM cost and WS status (Business-As-Usual, Section 4.2) versus future plans.

To overcome the WSM challenges and achieve objectives planned for 2030 and Vision 2050 (Table 5), the city should address the existing crises of water pollution, water shortage, and flooding and increase the cost invested in risk management.

Particularly, based on the findings in Sections 3 and 4 the authors recommend the following policies for Hanoi:

The low rating for the quality of under-law and guidance documents, capacity building, and implementation/enforcement (Section 4.1.1) indicates that Hanoi should:

• - Revise, reform, and enforce policy and legislation to solve existing conflict, overlapping, and inconsistent water regulations;

• - Define clear roles and responsibilities for water management institutions and service providers;

• - Increase enforcement and implementation of water regulations, particularly resources for inspection and control of WS violation cases, and mechanisms to control domestic water quality and continuous supply;

• - Increase effective capacity building for management institutions and local authorities for better attitudes and mechanisms facilitating cooperation/coordination across ministries and Hanoi's inter-agencies, including the management of NTS issues like WS.

The low to medium ratings of WS status (Sections 4.2.1 and 4.2.2) resulting from low investment in the technical dimension (Section 4.1.2) show that Hanoi should create favorable legal and administrative mechanisms. This will attract investment in water-related infrastructure and services targeted by the city until 2030 and Vision 2050 (Table 4). Furthermore, these measures aim to solve existing crises and prevent future water issues. The focus should be on infrastructure for the management of wastewater, solid waste, domestic water supply, and drainage systems. The investment should be balanced between treatment facilities, pipeline networks, and maintenance and operation.

A medium rating for awareness and a low rating for behavior change (Section 4.1.5) show that Hanoi should pay more attention to the investment that can transform awareness into positive behavior change, particularly:

• - Increase in investment in public water/waste infrastructure;

• - Create legal mechanisms and economic tools to promote public awareness toward good behaviors of water practices and prevent incidents of environmental crime; urgently in the domain of solid waste collection and treatment technologies, household connection to sewer, and domestic water pipelines.

An overall low (water service providers) to medium (household) rating for the affordability dimension (Sections 4.1.3 and 4.2.3) implies that Hanoi should create and implement legal mechanisms and economic tools for this situation. Pricing mechanisms to promote the affordability of water service providers and attract private investors in water-related projects are expected.

An overall low to medium rating for the environmental/water justice and social equality dimension (Section 4.2.4) indicates that Hanoi can close these gaps by:

• - Increasing investment in water infrastructure projects in rural areas to close the gap in access to water-related services;

• - Applying legal mechanisms and financial/economic tools to support vulnerable social groups in affected areas to claim their environmental/water justice.

Many countries are confronting critical WS issues. Water scarcity, water pollution, water-related disasters, and their impacts have increased. The situation is especially worsened under the context of climate change and limited resources in the Global South. Effective approaches of WSM, which can address these problems by facilitating policy-making in a more straightforward and inclusive manner, are required. However, research studies on assessing WSM effectiveness are scarce. This is particularly true at the local level of developing countries, which are facing increasing NTS issues like WS.

This study applied an MNS approach inspired by CBA and IAD frameworks to identify WSM challenges at the local level in developing countries. Hanoi, Vietnam, was used as a case study. Pressure from population growth, rapid urbanization, economic development, and impacts of climate change are challenging the infrastructure and WSM capability of the city. The authors qualitatively assessed WSM effectiveness by analyzing causal relationships between WSM cost and WS status. Working with the WS concept of UN-Water, (2013), IWRM (GWP, 2000), relevant UN's SDGs, and OECD (2018b)'s water governance framework were utilized to develop integrated interdisciplinary dimensions and indicators for assessing WSM effectiveness.

The findings show that Hanoi faces challenges from an ineffective WSM, represented by a tendency of low cost of risk management and high cost of crisis and post-crisis recovery management, and consequently low WS status. The city suffers from severe water pollution, partial water shortages, insecurity of domestic water supply and irrigation water quality, and intensification of urban flooding and damages. This situation will not improve by 2030 using a business-as-usual scenario. Hanoi can improve the current situation by increasing investment in WS risk management and solving existing water-related crises by (1) enforcing and implementing water regulations; (2) facilitating coordination across state ministries and Hanoi's authorities and inter-agency; (3) increasing construction, operation, and maintenance of water-related infrastructure and services; (4) raising awareness toward good behavioral change, esp. solid waste management and sustainable water practices; and (5) closing gaps in access to water-related services and environmental/water justice in rural areas and vulnerable social groups.

The authors' findings on the case study of Hanoi point out that the philosophy of the MNS approach can be used to address NTS issues like WS. Particularly, multidimensional and contextual assessment of WSM effectiveness can help policymakers identify the causal relationship of management challenges. Accordingly, a proactive mindset of consequential connection between the cost (investment) of risk management, the cost (losses) of crisis and post-crisis management, and security status (benefits) should be carefully considered. In this way, policymakers can proactively prioritize proper resources to solve those challenges in the pathway to achieve the desired WS status of their localities.

This MNS approach offers a new school of thought and complements existing research in addressing critical local WSM challenges. It contributes to a novel philosophy of WSM facilitating decision-making, particularly at local levels of developing countries. This study contributes to a better understanding of interdisciplinary research development in WSM and sustainability management.

This study has some limitations. First, the collection of primary data did not include opinions of relevant water management institutions and authorities concerning existing WSM challenges and the MNS approach. Second, the use of qualitative/subjective ratings in assessing WSM cost and WS status has some disadvantages. It is more appropriate for the first tier of decision-making and limited data sources. For more accurate and sophisticated processes, more resources are needed to promote quantitative assessment, depending on the context and dimensions of concern. Future studies might explore more quantitative/objective methods, such as involving a panel of independent experts with water, management, policy, or science to assign ratings. A comparative analysis with other cities could be conducted to provide a baseline. Or, computer simulations could be used to assess the effect of different management scenarios on WS outputs.

The authors acknowledge the support of Vietnam National University under the project ‘Study on solutions to ensure water security for sustainable development of Hanoi city’ with a grant number QG.19.60. The authors thank all interviewees in Hanoi. They thank the editor and all reviewers from Water Policy and the preprint version posted on https://www.qeios.com/read/CJB3VP for valuable comments. They also thank Prof. Dr Terry Buss for editing the English language and commenting on this manuscript.

Phi Dinh Hoang developed the initial concept of Nontraditional Security Management (MNS) and research topic. Nguyet Thi Tran detailed the MNS concept and developed its application in WSM. Nguyet Thi Tran and Phi Dinh Hoang analyzed the research concept, collected and analyzed data, and compiled the manuscript.

This work is funded by the project ‘Study on solutions to ensure water security for sustainable development of Hanoi city’ with a grant number: QG.19.60 of the Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

All authors have read, understood, and have complied as applicable with the statement on ‘Ethical responsibilities of Authors’ as found in the Instructions for Authors. Furthermore, we declare that we did not use Artificial Intelligence to generate any text in this manuscript.

All relevant data are included in the paper or its Supplementary Information.

The authors declare there is no conflict.