Groundwater Crisis and Governance in China With Perspec,ves from the North China Plain

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Groundwater Crisis and Governance in China With Perspec,ves from the North China Plain"

Pauline Tate
6 years ago
Views:

1 Groundwater Crisis and Governance in China With Perspec,ves from the North China Plain Jie Liu 1, Chunmiao Zheng 1,2 1. Center for Water Research, Peking University 2. InternaConal Commission on Groundwater, IAHS

2 Water: China s Greatest Crisis? China s State Council (Cabinet) warned in 2007 that by 2030 China s water use will reach or approach the total volume of exploitable water resources. China is expected to use billion m 3 water per year by 2030, out of an estimated total of billion m 3 available. Premier Wen Jiabao

3 NORTH Land: 62% Water Resource: 19% Groundwater Resource: 30% PopulaCon: 47% China, A Tale of Two Halves S SOUTH Land: 38% Water Resource: 81% Groundwater Resource: 70% PopulaCon: 53% Source: MWR N Water Per Capita

4 Comparison of Exploitable Water Resources Per Capita Amount in m Ranked ~120 th globally China North China Plain USA World Sources: Gleick (2003) & Shiklomanov (1997)

5 Percentage of GW in Total Water Supplies >80; 50-80; 30-50; <30

experiencing various degrees of contamination 100- year Drought in

6 Scarcity and PolluCon: Double Whammy Over 400 out of 660 cities experiencing water shortage (110 cities severe); 90% of aquifers experiencing various degrees of contamination 100- year Drought in SW China in 2010 Wastewater Discharge to Yangtze River Tributary 2008

7 Where Have Rivers Gone? Disappearing Wetlands Wastewater Discharge

8 Max depth to water 62 m 112 m Cones of Depression Source: China Geological Survey (2008)

9 Groundwater Quality Shallow aquifer Deeper aquifer Category-2 water Category 3 Category 4: mainly agricultural Category 5: not for drinking Poor quality 58% of 243 samples Source: China Geological Survey (2008) 100 km

10 Land Subsidence Max cumulative amount: ~3.25 m Areas subsiding 200+mm: 60,000 km 2 Areas below sea level: 118,000 km 2 Estimated economic loss: 330 billion RMB Beijing Tianjin Source: China Geological Survey (2008)

11 2030 ProjecCons (2030 Water Resources Group, 2009)

12 Coping with Water Scarcity Engineering and Technological Approaches Water- saving technologies Water- treatment and re- use technologies (including desalination) Monitoring, measuring and sensing technologies Water transfer (the South- to- North Water Transfer Project) Non- technical soft Approaches Social- economic considerations Political and institutional systems More innovative, out- of- box approaches?

13 Before After 1998 No systematic groundwater management structure Interim Regulations on Mineral Resources Protection (1956) First comprehensive national Water Law (1988) Regulations on Water Pollution Prevention and Control Historical at Drinking Water development Source Protection of Area GW (1989) Regulations on Urban Groundwater Development and Management Governance (1993) in China Mineral Resources Law (amended in 1986) Rules for the Implementation of the Mineral Resources Law (1994) Urban groundwater management under the MC Groundwater investigations under the MGMR (now MLR) Groundwater quality management under the MEP Administrative management functions on groundwater resources of both the MC and the MGMR (now MLR) moved to the MWR The 2002 amended Water Law further strengthened MWR s administrative power over GW, and called for integrated water management

14 Laws Regulations Standards National Level Local Level The Water Law (2002) The Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law (2008) The Mineral Resources Law (1986) The regulations on water withdrawal permit and water resources fee charging (2006) The regulations on urban groundwater development and management (1993) The rules for the implementation of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law (2000) The regulations on water pollution prevention and control at drinking water source protection area (1989) The rules for the implementation of the Mineral Resources Law (1994) 14 national standards 14 sectoral standards More than 50 regulations and rules at provincial and municipal levels

15 Legislation NaConal People s Congress (NPC) Water PolluCon PrevenCon & Control Law (WPPC, 1996, 2008) Water Law (2002) Mineral Resources Law (1986) Administration The State Council Centre MEP MWR MLR Province Municipality County Township RBOs Pv. EPBs Pv. WRBs Pv. DLR Yangtze Mn. EPBs Mn. WRBs Yellow Huaihe Mn. LRBs Haihe County EPBs County WRBs Pearl R. County Songliao LRBs Taihu

16 Discussion and Recommendations n Any solution for resolving water crisis requires comprehensive consideration of hydrologic, social, economic, political, and institutional factors n Institutional reforms are needed to straighten out the relationships between/among: Ø national and local governments Ø different ministries with water-related jurisdiction Ø basin- and locality-based management approaches n National water related monitoring networks should be constructed with improved metering n Data publishing and information sharing should be greatly promoted.

Water Resources CHOIR in China

Water Resources CHOIR in China Strategic research and innovation priorities for water Liu Dengwei 水利部发展研究中心 Development Research Center of the Ministry of Water Resources of China Water Resources CHOIR