Water Governance in China

Vertical and Horizontal Fragmentation

Chinas Water Risk - Spatial and Temporal

Chinas 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

Horizontal Fragmentation in Water Management

National Peoples Congress

Ministry of Water Resources

Ministry of environmental protection

Ministry of agriculture

State forest administration

State Oceanic administration

National development and reform commission

Ministry of housing and rural construction

Ministry of land and resources

Ministry of Transportation

River Basin Management Commissions (RBMC): 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.

The State Council

Centrally: National Peoples 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

Lack of coordination in between ministries

Ministry of Environmental Protection and Ministry of Water Resources 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.

Vertical Fragmentation in Water Management

Communist Party

Discipline Commission

Politiburo

Party Elders

National Peoples Congress

- 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

State Council Ministry of Water Resources River basin management commission

Provincial Water Resource bureau

Prefecture Water Resource bureau Courts and Tribunals - Peoples supreme court - Peoples high court - Prefecture courts - County courts County Water Resource bureau Township water stations

Vertical fragmentation
each level of government has water management responsibilities, separated at administrative boundaries, not river basin levels competition between government makes transboundary river 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

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 its source

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 for such transfers.

VS

thank you.