Table of Contents
FOREWORD
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABBREVIATIONS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 Introduction
2 Water Scarcity in China: Current Situation
Spatial and Temporal Disparities
Water Pollution
Environmental and Social Impacts and Economic Loss
External Driving Forces of Water Problems
3 Water Resources Management in China: An Overview of Determinant Variables
Technical Solutions Are Available and Economically Feasible
Government Commitments, Plans, and Implementation
Excessive Fragmentation of the Water Management System
Policy Failures in Water Management
Summary
4 Improving Water Governance
The Concept of Water Governance
The Legal Environment for Water Management
Institutional Arrangements for Water Resource Management
Transparency and Information Disclosure
Public Participation in Water Management
Summary
5 Deepening Water Rights Administration and Developing Water Markets
Theory of Water Rights and International Practice
Development of Water Rights in China
Water Rights Reform in China: Case Studies and Project Insights
Basics of Water Market and Trading
International Experience with Water Markets
Emerging Experience of Water Trading in China: Case Studies
Challenges and Lessons for China
Recommendations
6 Improving Efficiency and Equity in Water Pricing
Water Pricing in China: Policy and Practice
Pricing for Environment and Depletion
Social Impact and Affordability
Protecting the Poor
Other Implementation Issues
Recommendations
7 Protecting Ecosystems in River Basins through Market-Oriented Eco-Compensation Instruments
Ecological Compensation Mechanisms in China
Concept and Methodology of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES)
The Growing International Experience with PES Systems
Potential Use of PES in China
Recommendations
8 Controlling Water Pollution
Seriousness of Water Pollution
Causes of Pollution and Key Challenges for Pollution Control
International Experience
Emerging Institutional and Policy Issues
Recommendations
9 Preventing Water Pollution Disasters
Water Pollution Incidents in China
Concept and Framework for Pollution Emergency Prevention and Response
International Experience
Environmental Emergency Prevention and Response in China
Recommendations
10 Summary, Action Plan, and Issues for the Future
Summary
Action Plan
Issues for the Future
Concluding Remarks
APPENDIX: BACKGROUND PAPERS TO THIS REPORT
REFERENCES
INDEX
BOX 1.1 The World Bank’s Analytical and Advisory Assistance Program—“Addressing China’s Water Scarcity: From Analysis to Action”
BOX 1.2 Recent Water Resource Management Studies at the World Bank
BOX 2.1 Water Crisis in Wuxi in 2007
BOX 3.1 China’s 11th FYP for Water Resources Development
BOX 3.2 Case Study: Evaluating the Implementation of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Plans for the Huai River Basin
BOX 3.3 River Basin Agencies in France
BOX 3.4 Planning Scarce Water Resources Using Evapotranspiration (ET) Quotas
BOX 3.5 Distorted Economic Incentive for Pollution Discharge
BOX 4.1 The U.S. Experience in Promoting Law Enforcement
BOX 4.2 River Basin Management Legislation in the United States: the Case of the Susquehanna River Basin
BOX 4.3 Three Models of Water Resource Institutions in Europe
BOX 4.4 The EU Water Framework Directive
BOX 4.5 Integrated River Basin Management
BOX 4.6 EU Directive on the Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment
BOX 5.1 Water Rights in New Mexico
BOX 5.2 From Formal Rights to Contracts and Claims
BOX 5.3 Water Allocation Priorities in the Middle East: the Case of Israel
BOX 5.4 Registering and Monitoring Users: International Comparisons with Groundwater Management
BOX 5.5 Determining and Defining Environmental Flows
BOX 5.6 From River to Farm: Water Rights and Allocation in Inner Mongolia Water Resources Allocation Plan for the Yellow River
BOX 5.7 Defining and Allocating Consumptive Water Rights in the Hai Basin
BOX 5.8 The Colorado–Big Thompson (C-BT) Project
BOX 5.9 Idaho Water Supply Bank
BOX 5.10 Water Markets in the Murray Darling Basin, Australia
BOX 5.11 Channel Lining and Water Transfer: Experience from Hangjin Irrigation District, Inner Mongolia
BOX 5.12 Defining, Allocating, and Trading Rights in the Heihe Basin
BOX 6.1 The Marginal User Cost of Water in the Hai River Basin
BOX 6.2 Making Price Increases Acceptable: the Case of Chongqing
BOX 7.1 Additional Examples of Payments for Ecological and Environmental Services (PES)
BOX 8.1 Implementation of Water Pollution Control Plans for the Huai River Basin
BOX 8.2 Public Participation and Compliance with Environmental Standards: the Case of Japan
BOX 9.1 Water Pollution Incident in the Songhua River
BOX 9.2 The Sandoz Chemical Spill in Switzerland and Extending down the Rhine
BOX 9.3 Examples of National Legislative Systems
BOX 9.4 The Buncefield Incident, U.K.
FIGURE 1.1 Water Resource Management
FIGURE 2.1 Spatial Distribution of Annual per Capita Water Resources in China
FIGURE 2.2 Industrial Wastewater Discharge, 1995–2005
FIGURE 2.3 Industrial COD Discharge, 1995–2005
FIGURE 2.4 Trends in Water Quality at Monitored River Sections in China, 1991–2005
FIGURE 2.5 Trends in Water Quality Changes at Monitored River Sections in North and South China, 1991–2005
FIGURE 2.6 Surface Water Quality, 2000 and 2004
FIGURE 2.7 Groundwater Depletion by Province
FIGURE 2.8 Polluted Water Supplies in China
FIGURE 2.9 Rural Households with No Access to Piped Water and Diarrhea Incidence
FIGURE 2.10 Mortality Rate for Cancer Associated with Water Pollution in China, 2003
FIGURE 3.1 Ministries and Authorities Involved in Water Resource Management
FIGURE 3.2 MEP and MWR Water Quality Data for Huai River, 1998–2004
FIGURE 3.3 Integrated Economic Values of Water and Water Withdrawals in the Primary, Industrial, and Service Sectors in Eight Regions
FIGURE 6.1 Municipal Water Tariffs and Wastewater Charges by City
FIGURE 6.2 Share of Water and Wastewater Services Expenses for Average and Low-Income Households
FIGURE 7.1 Main Ecological and Environmental Services by Type of Service
FIGURE 7.2 The Simple Economics of Payments for Environmental Services
FIGURE 7.3 The Flow of Compensation from Beneficiaries to Land Users in a PES System
FIGURE 8.1 Water Quality in Chinese Rivers, 1991–2006
FIGURE 8.2 Percentage of Sections with Water Quality Grade IV to Grade V+, 2001 and 2005
FIGURE 8.3 Provincial Sewage Treatment Investments in Yellow River Watershed
FIGURE 8.4 Centralized Sewage Treatment Rates and per Capita GDP in 14 Provinces in Northern China, 2003
FIGURE 8.5 Centralized Sewage Treatment Rates by City Size in 2003
FIGURE 9.1 Common Elements of an Emergency Response System
TABLE 2.1 Spatial Distribution of China’s Water Resources and Other Social Variables
TABLE 2.2 Wastewater and Pollutant Discharges, 2000–05
TABLE 2.3 Current Trophic Level of Lakes and Reservoirs in China
TABLE 2.4 Water Supply and Renewable Water Resources in China, 2005
TABLE 2.5 Projected Water Demand
TABLE 3.1 Performance in Meeting the 10th FYPEP Targets for Water Pollution Control
TABLE 3.2 Wastewater Treatment Cost for Major Industrial and Domestic Sectors
TABLE 3.3 Virtual Water Content of Selected Products
TABLE 3.4 Urban Fixed-Asset Investment during the 9th and 10th Five-Year Period
TABLE 6.1 Water Tariffs in Beijing, 1981–2007
TABLE 7.1 Summary of EES, Service Providers, and Service Beneficiaries in the Lashihai Case Study, China
TABLE 7.2 Suggested Increase in Lijiang Old Town Visitors’ Fee to Fund PES Scheme
TABLE 7.3 Suggested Entrance Fees to Lashihai Nature Reserve to Fund PES Scheme
TABLE 8.1 Planned Water-Related Investment Shares between the Central Government and Local Sources in Wei River Basin
TABLE 8.2 Water Quality of Qixinghe Natural Reserve, 2007
TABLE 10.1 Recommended Action Plan