Water Resources Management of the People’s Republic of China: Framework, Reform and Implementation

465 Pages·2021·6.095 MB·English

by  Dajun Shen

Global Issues in Water Policy 26
Dajun Shen
Water Resources
Management
of the People’s
Republic of China
Framework, Reform and
Implementation
Global Issues in Water Policy
Volume 26
Editor-in-Chief
ArielDinar,DepartmentofEnvironmentalSciences,UniversityofCalifornia,
Riverside,CA,USA
SeriesEditors
JoséAlbiac,DepartmentofAgriculturalEconomics,UnidadEconomia,
CITA-DGA,Zaragoza,Spain
GuillermoDonoso,DepartmentofAgriculturalEconomics,PontificiaUniversidad
CatólicadeChile,Macul,Chile
StefanoFarolfi,CIRADUMRG-EAU,Montpellier,France
RathinasamyMariaSaleth,Chennai,India
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/8877
Dajun Shen
Water Resources
Management of the People’s
Republic of China
Framework, Reform and Implementation
DajunShen
SchoolofEnvironmentandNaturalResources
RenminUniversityofChina
Beijing,China
ISSN2211-0631 ISSN2211-0658 (electronic)
GlobalIssuesinWaterPolicy
ISBN978-3-030-61930-5 ISBN978-3-030-61931-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61931-2
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Preface
Since opening its gates to the world in the late 1970s, China has remained at the
centeroftheinternationalstage.Inalmosteveryaspect,thedevelopmentofChinahas
impressedtheworld,notonlythesocial-economicdevelopmentwithinthecountry,
butinitsinvolvementininternationalaffairs.Inthepast40years,Chinahasdeveloped
from a low-income entity to a middle-income economy that includes some highly
developedregions.
The development and management of water resources in China reflects these
broaderchanges.Pushedbytherapidsocio-economicprogress,aswellasstructural
changesintheeconomyandsociety,waterresourcesdevelopmentanduseinChina
experienced a rapid increase in water consumption. That growth has now peaked
and is being managed with the introduction of caps limiting further exploitation.
Themanagementhasnowshiftedtoimprovingtheefficiencyandqualityofboththe
waterresourcesandsectorthatmanagesit.Followingthisprocessandinpursuitof
state-mandated targets, since the early 1980s, China has progressively established
anadvancedandcomprehensivewaterresourcesmanagementframework,promoted
institutionalreformwithinthewaterresourcessector,andintroducedarangeofnew
managementsystems,allinanefforttorespondtothelimitedwaterresourcesofthe
countryandarangeofcomplicatedandevolvingwaterissuesanddemands.
Chinafacesavarietyofwaterissues.Ontheonehand,traditionalwaterproblems,
suchaswatersupply,floodcontrol,andresponsetodrought,remainatthecenterof
decision-making,asisthecasethisyear.Ontheotherhand,emergingissues,suchas
demandmanagement,pollutioncontrols,andtheefficientallocationoftheavailable
supplies, have an increasing significance. Moreover, these problems have become
morecomplicatedbytherapidsocialandeconomictransition.Therefore,waterissues
and policies in China span the full spectrum of global water challenges, ranging
fromthoserelevanttoadevelopingeconomytothosefacedbydevelopedones,from
managing water quantity to managing water quality, from supply to demand, and
fromresourcedevelopmenttoitsmanagement.
On this basis, this book aims to present the breadth of water resources issues
facingChinatogetherwithasuiteofsolutions.Withthisobjectiveinmind,awide
rangeofgeneralandspecificwaterresourcesmanagementtopicsandcasestudiesin
Chinaareanalyzed,whichinvolvesabalancedreviewofthepast,thepresentstate,
v
vi Preface
and potential future developments. At the same time, the book considers issues at
boththenationalandtheregionalandriverbasinlevels.
Thebookstartswithageneralintroductionandoverviewofthehydrology,water
resourcesanddevelopment,andwaterissuesinChina.Thebookthenpresentsaseries
ofgeneralframeworks,includingthoserepresentingthesystemsandinstitutionsthat
underpinmanagementinChina,includingthoseattheriverbasinscale.Afterward,
specific issues are discussed, including water resources allocation and regulation,
water rights system, water pricing, groundwater management, and water quality
management. This is followed by an overview of policy, reforms, and innovations
overthelast20years,suchasrecycledwaterusemanagement,the“StrictestWater
ResourcesStrategyandThreeRedlines,”theriverandlakechiefsystem,andwater
resources asset management. Case studies from Beijing and Shanghai, the Yellow
Riverbasin,northernChina,andtheJiaoRiverarealsopresented.Thelastchapters
focusonclimatechange,theconclusion,andoutlook.Thesummarychapterreviews
thewaterpolicychangessince1980,andoutlookforthefuture.
Ihavebeenfortunatethatmycareerdevelopmenthasoccurredinparallelwiththe
developmentofwaterresourcesmanagementinmycountry,whichhasallowedme
toresearch,learnfrom,andpromoteChina’swaterpolicyreform.Startinginthelate
1990s,myresearchinitiallyfocusedonsocio-economicaspectsofwaterresources.
IexploredwaterpricingissuesinChinaasastartingpoint,beforemovingintowork
relatedtoinstitutionalarrangements,waterrights,andbeyond.Therefore,whilethe
book presents a record of water resources management of China over the past 40
years,itisalsoarecordofmyresearchovermorethan20years.
Writing this book was a long and painful, though also very happy, process, in
particular, for a non-native speaker of English. Thank you very much to Professor
ArielDinarforincludingmybookinGlobalWaterissues,asignificantcontribution
towaterpolicyresearchesaroundtheworld.Moreimportant,itisyourpersistence,
enthusiasm,andpassiontoworkandresearch,whichIfeltwhenIhadmyFulbright
program at University of California, Riverside, which encouraged me to finish the
book.Manythankstomyfriends,colleagues,andstudents:Dr.XuetaoSunandDr.
Bin Liu for allowing me the opportunity to be deeply involved in water resources
managementpolicydesignandimplementationinChina;Mr.RobertSpeedandMr.
MartinCoiserfromAustraliaforhelpingmetodevelopthewaterrightsframework;
Profs. Zhongjing Wang and Hang Zheng for being happy to work with me all the
time. Thanks to Ari Guna for helping me deal with the language editing. Many
thankstomyfamily.Myparentsnotonlysupportandareproudofmystudyingall
thetime,buthavealsohelpedmetoraisemytwodaughtersformanyyears,asmost
Chineseseniorsdo;thankstoJiangheandJiangnan,bothofyouarealwayssolovely
andsweet;thankstoLiWen,althoughIdonotsmileallthetime,yousupportmy
workwithoutanycomplaint.Andlast,Iwouldliketodelivermyspecialthanksto
my supervisors, Profs. Chuanyou Chen, Renqiong Su, Changming Liu, and Ruiju
Liang.
Preface vii
This year, 2020, is not a normal year. It is a time of change. In this year, I will
havemyfirstEnglishbook.
Beijing,China DajunShen
August2020
Contents
1 PhysicalSettingsandWaterChallenges ......................... 1
1.1 GeographicalAspects ..................................... 1
1.1.1 Topography ...................................... 1
1.1.2 Climate ......................................... 3
1.1.3 Rivers ........................................... 3
1.2 Hydrology .............................................. 6
1.2.1 Precipitation ..................................... 6
1.2.2 Evaporation ...................................... 8
1.2.3 Runoff .......................................... 9
1.3 WaterResources ......................................... 13
1.3.1 SurfaceWaterResources ........................... 13
1.3.2 GroundwaterResources ........................... 14
1.3.3 WaterResources .................................. 15
1.4 WaterResourcesDevelopmentandUse ...................... 15
1.4.1 WaterResourcesDevelopment ...................... 15
1.4.2 WaterUse ....................................... 18
1.5 KeyWaterResourceIssues ................................ 21
1.5.1 SeriousWaterSupplyandDemandConflict .......... 21
1.5.2 HeavyWaterPollution ............................. 21
1.5.3 IncreasingWaterEcosystemDegradation ............ 22
1.5.4 LowWater-UseEfficiency ......................... 23
1.6 Summary ............................................... 23
References .................................................... 24
2 WaterResourcesManagementFramework ...................... 25
2.1 WaterResourcesManagementFramework ................... 25
2.2 MainWaterResourcesManagementSystems ................. 26
2.2.1 Medium- and Long-Term Water Supply
andDemandPlanningSystem ...................... 26
2.2.2 WaterResourcesAllocationSystem ................. 28
2.2.3 WaterAbstractionPermitSystem ................... 29
ix
x Contents
2.2.4 WaterResourcesFeeSystem ....................... 33
2.2.5 WaterResourcesJustificationSystem ................ 35
2.2.6 PlannedWaterUseSystem ......................... 36
2.2.7 WaterFunctionZoningSystem ..................... 38
2.2.8 TotalPollutantDischargeVolumeControlSystem ..... 39
2.2.9 Management System of Discharge Outlet
intoWaterBody .................................. 40
2.2.10 TotalWaterVolumeControlSystem ................. 40
2.2.11 QuotaManagementSystem ........................ 42
2.2.12 MetricChargingSystem ........................... 43
2.2.13 OverchargeforPlan/Quota-ExceedingUse ........... 44
2.2.14 Water-SavingSystem .............................. 44
2.2.15 GroundwaterManagementSystem .................. 45
2.3 Relationships Among Water Resources Management
Systems ................................................. 46
2.3.1 WaterResourcesDevelopmentandUseProcess ....... 46
2.3.2 ManagementResponsibility ........................ 49
2.3.3 Timing .......................................... 51
2.3.4 Space ........................................... 52
2.3.5 Technical Review and Administrative
Management ..................................... 53
2.3.6 ManagementInstruments .......................... 54
2.3.7 ManagementLevel ................................ 55
2.4 Summary ............................................... 56
References .................................................... 57
3 WaterResourcesManagementInstitutions ...................... 59
3.1 WaterManagementInstitutionsBefore1949 ................. 59
3.2 MWRBetweenOct.1949–Mar.1958:WaterResources
DevelopmentandAgriculturalDevelopment ................. 61
3.3 MWPBetweenMar.1958–Mar.1988:WaterResources
DevelopmentandPowerDevelopment ...................... 63
3.3.1 MWPDuringFebruary1958–July1967 .............. 63
3.3.2 MWPDuringJuly1967–January1975 ............... 64
3.3.3 MWPDuringJanuary1975–February1979 ........... 64
3.3.4 MWRBetweenFebruary1979andMarch1982 ....... 65
3.3.5 MWPDuringMarch1982–March1988 .............. 65
3.4 MWRDuringMar.1988–Mar.2018:FromConstruction
toWaterResourcesManagement ........................... 66
3.4.1 MWRDuringMarch1988–March1993 .............. 66
3.4.2 MWRDuringMarch1993–March1998 .............. 67
3.4.3 MWR During March 1998–March 2003
andMarch2003–March2008 ...................... 69
3.4.4 MWR During March 2008–March 2013
andMarch2013–March2018 ...................... 71