Improving China’s water resources management for better adaptation to climate change

Abstract

Challenged by insufficient water resources and by degraded water quality caused by widespread pollution, China faces an imbalance between the supply and the demand of water for supporting the rapid social and economic development while protecting the natural environment and ecosystems. Climate change is expected to further stress freshwater resources and widen the gap between the demand for and supply of water. As a legacy of the earlier planned economy, water resources management has been primarily supply-driven, which largely fails to account for the economic nature of water resources in relation to their natural characteristics. This paper presents a historical perspective on the water resources management policies and practices in China, and recommends demand management and pollution control as key measures for improving water resources management to adapt to climate change based on the current political, socio-economic and water resources conditions. The past and future impacts of climate change on water resources in China and the general adaptation strategies are also presented. How demand management through increasing water use efficiency, improving water rights and rights trade, and effective regulation enforcement, along with pollution control could improve China's water resources management are discussed in details. Ultimately, China should develop a sustainable water resources management strategy based on both supply-and demand-side management options to make the limited water supplies meet the demands of economic development, social well-being and the conservation of ecosystems in the context of global climate change.

The urgency of assessing the greenhouse gas budgets of hydroelectric reservoirs in China

“…Moreover, eutrophicationwhich occurs naturally on geological timescales but is significantly accelerated by anthropogenic nutrient input -is also a major problem in China. At present about 20% of the reservoirs in the country suffer from water pollution, particularly eutrophication caused by discharges from municipal and agricultural sources 33 . The enhanced biomass formation, combined with suppression of dissolved oxygen levels in reservoirs resulting from nutrient and carbon loadings from the watersheds, increases their CH 4 production 27,34 .…”

Infrastructure sufficiency in meeting water demand under climate-induced socio-hydrological transition in the urbanizing Capibaribe River basin – Brazil

“…The investment in water facilities, for example, is one of the strategies adopted by China to develop effective adaptation to climate change, natural disasters, and food security (Li, 2012). Demand management improves water use efficiency, water rights, effective regulation enforcement, and pollution control (Cheng and Hu, 2012). Until the 1990s, northeast Brazil focused on the construction of small reservoirs and drilling wells in the crystalline rock.…”

Water pollution during China's industrial transition

“…Each of these agencies holds certain authority, yet they have very poor coordination and often conflicting interests (Jiang, 2009). Even though the local offices are under the leadership of the central authorities, they are also politically and financially dependent on the local government (Cheng and Hu, 2012). Such complex and interdependent institutional arrangements, together with the bureaucratic processes, pose significant barriers for effective water resources management and water pollution control (Liu and Speed, 2009;Winalski, 2009).…”

“…Despite of the relatively abundant water resources (2.8 trillion m 3 The water shortages are further aggravated by the spatial mismatch between the distribution of water resources and those of population and industrial activities (Cheng and Hu, 2012). For example, the populous North China Plain, which hosts around 1/3 of China's population, gross domestic product (GDP), and industrial output, is endowed with only less than 8% of the water resources.…”

“…Meanwhile, heavy pollution has rendered water from 17.2% of the river sections, 24.7% of the lake areas, and 4.5% of the reservoirs practically useless (MWR, 2012). The widespread pollution has compromised some water-related efforts and investments, such as water transfers and water abstraction, as the heavily polluted water could no longer meet the requirements of the planned applications (Cheng and Hu, 2012).…”