Water Resources Management in the
People's Republic of China
Chinese water resource managers face a challenge that is both immense and unique. They must balance limited water supplies against the needs of the world's largest population; demands for rapid economic growth with calls for improved environmental management; and the desire for a market-based approach to the allocation of water with a history of State ownership and strict government control of all resources.
This book describes the development of a water rights system in the People's Republic of China. It covers different aspects of water resources management in China including water planning, the provision of environmental flows, urban water management, and irrigation district management and examines how these are being addressed through a rights-based approach. The book includes several detailed examples of the Chinese application of water rights as they address the diverse challenges of different basins across China.
This book previously appeared as a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Development.
Sun Xuetao is the Director-General of the Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Water Resources, People's Republic of China. In that role, he leads the formulation and implementation of China's policies for water resources management.
Robert Speed is a water policy consultant from Brisbane, Australia and was the Australian Team Leader on the China Water Entitlements and Trading project from 2006-8. Robert has held senior positions in the Water Reform Unit of the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water and was involved in the development and implementation of the Australian water sector reforms.
Shen Dajun is a senior engineer at the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, and has worked in water resources management for more than 10 years. He had been the team leader for more than 10 international and domestic water projects and has published more than 50 books and papers on water resources management.
Water Resources Management in
the People's Republic of China
Edited by Sun Xuetao, Robert Speed and Shen Dajun
First published 2010 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
2010 Commonwealth of Australia. Reproduced by permission
Typeset in Times by Value Chain, India
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJI Digital, Padstow, Cornwall
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN10: 0-415-54357-6
ISBN13: 978-0-415-54357-6
Contents
Xuetao Sun
Bin Liu & Robert Speed
Dajun Shen & Robert Speed
Roger C. Calow, Simon E. Howarth & Jinxia Wang
Martin Cosier & Dajun Shen
Robert Speed
Xiqin Wang, Yuan Zhang & Cassandra James
Christopher J. Gippel, Nick R. Bond, Cassandra James & Xiqin Wang
Christopher J. Gippel, Martin Cosier, Sharmil Markar & Changshun Liu
Zhongjing Wang, Hang Zheng & Xuefeng Wang
Hang Zheng, Zhongjing Wang, You Liang & Roger C. Calow
Robert Speed
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Commonwealth Government. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth Government does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the report.
Nick R. Bond is a Research Fellow with the School of Biological Sciences, Monash University and eWater Cooperative Research Centre. Nick is a freshwater ecologist with research interests in the effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbance on streams, restoration ecology and flow ecology relationships. Nick has been involved in a number of projects to develop environmental flow recommendations for regulated and unregulated rivers.
Roger C. Calow is head of the Water Policy Programme at the UK's Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and works on international groundwater management issues for the British Geological Survey (BGS). In addition to his work on water rights and irrigation reform in Asia, he is currently leading research projects in Africa on sustainable service delivery, climate change and water security.
Martin Cosier has been working in China since early 2007. As a water policy specialist on the Water Entitlements and Trading Project, Martin provided policy advice on resource allocation planning, environmental flows and urban water supply issues. Prior to moving to China, Martin was a policy advisor with the Premier's Department in the Queensland Government. He has qualifications in law and environmental science.
Christopher J. Gippel is Director of Fluvial Systems Pty Ltd., a company that provides specialist consulting services in the areas of environmental flows, geomorphology, hydrology, river rehabilitation, and river and estuary management. He holds a BSc (Hons), University of Newcastle, and PhD, University of NSW.
Cassandra James is a Research Fellow at the Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University. Her areas of expertise include environmental flows and plant ecology.
Bin Liu is the Division Director, Division of Water Resources Management, within the Department of Water Resources in China's Ministry of Water Resources.
Changshun Liu received a PhD degree from Beijing Normal University in 2004. He works as a Senior Engineer at the Water Development Research Centre within the Ministry of Water Resources, Beijing. His main research interests include water policy, water resources management models and technology.
Sharmil Markar is a director and Principal Engineer with WRM Water & Environment Pty Ltd., a water resources consultancy in Brisbane, Australia. He has over 25 years of experience in numerical modelling of hydrologic and hydraulic processes, as well as water resources management and planning, and flood forecasting, flood risk and damage assessment. He has worked in Australia, China, Indonesia, Iran, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
Xiqin Wang is an Associate Professor at the School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University, Beijing. Dr. Wang has published 45 papers and two books in water resources management. Her research interests include the river environmental flows and the relationship between water environment protection and economic development.
Xuefeng Wang is an engineer with China Water International Engineering Consulting Co. Ltd. She has previously worked as an assistant engineer within China's Ministry of Water Resources and holds a PhD in Hydrology and Water Resources from Tsinghua University.
