Many highland ethnic‑minority villages in Nghe An and Quang Tri have new water infrastructure, yet hundreds of households still lack water for daily use. Understanding why these costly projects fail is essential for anyone relying on public services.

The Khe Hoi Duong gravity‑fed system was built in 2004 with funding from Program 135 to serve 174 households. It originally included one collection tank, a pipeline network and 12 small storage tanks, but today only two tanks are usable and the rest are abandoned.

Repeated heavy rain and floods have repeatedly damaged the system, and because no repair funding was provided, the project has been virtually non‑functional since 2007. Similar damage and neglect affect other gravity‑fed projects across the Nam Giai area.

In 2024 the Hoa Thanh village project was constructed with an investment of 4 billion VND. Despite the new build, more than 100 households received no water during the dry seasons of 2025‑2026, and the remaining 137 families had to collect water in scheduled time slots.

The article identifies three main reasons for these failures: natural disasters and harsh climate that damage infrastructure; designs that cannot adapt to fluctuating water sources; and insufficient post‑investment maintenance with unclear repair responsibility. Without addressing these issues, future projects are likely to leave mountain residents without reliable water.