Clean Water Storage Initiative in Ha Giang Rocky Highlands
The Dong Van Karst Plateau UNESCO Global Geopark in Ha Giang Province is celebrated internationally for its dramatic limestone topography and rich ethnic heritage, yet local communities endure severe geographic isolation and persistent freshwater deficits. In Sa Phin border commune, extreme karst terrain restricts cultivable land to just 401.5 hectares out of 1,367 hectares, leaving subsistence farming acutely vulnerable to seasonal weather patterns. With an official commune poverty and near-poverty rate of 66.1% across 687 households, residents face an annual dry season lasting up to six months with virtually zero rainfall. In Lung Thau hamlet, where 25 out of 30 families live below the national poverty line, villagers historically walked up to 10 kilometers daily across rugged mountain trails to collect water or paid prohibitive commercial rates of up to 200,000 VND per cubic meter for trucked water.
Following localized flash floods in June 2024 that compounded regional vulnerabilities, the LuxGroup Foundation partnered with local enterprise Ha Giang Tre and commune authorities to launch the “Providing Water Tanks to the People of Ha Giang’s Stone Highlands” initiative. Overcoming flood-damaged transportation routes, corporate leadership and volunteer teams reached Dong Van on June 15, 2024, to install 25 high-capacity stainless steel water tanks (1,200 liters each) directly at disadvantaged family homesteads in Lung Thau hamlet. Concurrently, the team distributed 48 comprehensive emergency welfare packages containing rice, iodized salt, cooking oil, and essential condiments to flood-affected households across Lung Thau and Pa Vi Ha hamlets.
The installation of dedicated 1,200-liter storage systems permanently secured hygienic rainwater harvesting capacity for the entire hamlet, eliminating arduous daily water treks and significantly mitigating waterborne health risks. To transition this humanitarian intervention into a permanent development pipeline, LuxGroup established an institutional mechanism pledging 5% of total tour revenues from Ha Giang itineraries directly to the LuxGroup Foundation. This capital fund systematically finances future clean water storage systems, decentralized solar energy grids, and educational facilities across the remaining ten border hamlets of Sa Phin commune.
