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Water Governance in
ChinaVertical and Horizontal Fragmentation
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China’s Water Risk - Spatial and
Temporal
China’s Water Sustainability in the 21st Century: Role of Climate and Multi-Sector Demands in Water Risk Assessment
Chen Xi 1, 3*, Naresh Devineni2, Upmanu Lall2, 3, Hao Zhenchun1, Ju Qin1, Wang jiahu1, Wang Shicheng4
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Horizontal Fragmentation in Water Management
National People’s Congress Ministry of Water Resources
Ministry of
environmental
protection
Ministry of housing and
rural construction
Ministry of
agriculture
Ministry of land and
resourcesMinistry of Transportation
State forest
administration
State Oceanic
administrationNational
development and
reform commission
The State CouncilRiver Basin Management Commissions (RBMC):
subordinate organization of the MWR for its seven largeriver/lake basins (six river basin management commissions
and the Lake Tai Basin Management Agency). Responsible
for preparing basin-wide water allocation plans andproviding technical direction and guidance to local
governments within the basin.
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●
● Centrally:
○ National People’s Congress and State Council play overarching role through enactment of laws/regulations and
supervising their implementation and coordination
○ For example, the ‘12th Five Year Plan’
● Ministries
○ Ministry of water resources - water allocation planning and water rights administration
○ Ministry of environmental protection - responsible for water pollution prevention and control
○ State oceanic administration - sea area use, marine environment
○ Ministry of housing and urban and rural construction - urban water supply, urban wastewater
○ Ministry of finance - pollution levy, wastewater treatment pricing, water pricing policy
○ Ministry of agriculture - rural agriculture water use and water pollution
○ Ministry of land and resource - water as a resource, land planning
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Lack of coordination in between ministries
Ministry of Environmental Protection and Ministry of WaterResources both monitor water quality of major rivers, but
have their own monitoring stations, and do not share
their respective database - their data ends up different.
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Vertical Fragmentation in Water Management
Communist Party
Politiburo
National People’s
Congress
Party EldersDiscipline
Commission
- Circular Economy Promotion Law
- Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
Law
- Interim Measures of Public Participation in
EIA Law
- Environmental Impact Assessments Law
- Water Law
- Soil and Water Conservation Law
- Environmental Protection Law
- Promotion of Clean Production Law
Courts and Tribunals
- People’s supreme court
- People’s high court
- Prefecture courts
- County courts
State Council
Provincial Water Resource bureau
Ministry of Water Resources
Prefecture Water Resource bureau
County Water Resource bureau
River basin
management
commission
Township water stations
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Vertical fragmentation
● each level of government has water management
responsibilities, separated at administrative boundaries,
not river basin levels
● competition between government makes transboundaryriver management more difficult
○ for example, benefits from pollution abatement and
water savings in one province will be felt farther
downstream.
○ however majority of the funding for pollution control
and water-saving investments must come from local
budgets with only small share contributed by the
central government
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The River Basin Management
Commission
● Subordinate organization of the MWR for its seven large river/lake basins(six river basin management commissions and the Lake Tai Basin
Management Agency). Responsible for preparing basin-wide water
allocation plans and providing technical direction and guidance to local
governments within the basin.
● Only has authority to monitor water quality, not pollution control at itssource
● Basin wide water allocation plans are prepared by the RBMCs, water rights
at user level are administered by local governments, which are not
represented in the RBMC.
● Current water rights administration does not cover all water users
○ Irrigation are allocated to intermediary organisations responsible for
irrigation rather than end users.
○ Farmers withdraw water without permits, notably from underground
aquifers, which are not regulated at all
● Despite provisions and principles for water rights transfers, there are no
specific regulations on conditions, procedures, and operating guidelines forsuch transfers.
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VS
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thank you.