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8 Groundwater Management
a distinct system for groundwater management. According to the provisions of the
Water Law, the management of surface water and groundwater resources falls under
the same systems. However, the design of these systems is based on surface water
issues and cannot fully incorporate and adapt to the characteristics and requirements
of groundwater, leading to serious difficulties when applied to groundwater.
Lack of comprehensive legislation. Until now, no specific groundwater legislation
has been formulated at the central level in China. There are very few provisions
related to groundwater management in the Water Law. Most local legislation focuses
on special zones, such as urban areas, which only represent a small percentage in
terms of volume and area. Furthermore, this local legislation can only repeat and
detail the management measures defined by the upper level of China’s legislative
system.
Lack of coordinated management institution. The different understandings of
groundwater resources at the institutional level result in departmental conflicts. The
urban–rural boundary, the water and mineral resources distinction, and the depth of
groundwater level are all competing factors in the design of groundwater resources
management institutions. Existing departmental structures lead to sectoral management systems (such as the water resources fee and mineral resources compensation
fee, water abstraction permit, and mining permit systems, etc.). After 2018, with the
separation of functions between resources and use and between quantity and quality,
the requirement for an effective coordination mechanism has become more urgent.
Lack of groundwater quality management system. Almost all the groundwater
systems developed so far are designed to manage quantity, and no quality or protection
management system has been devised yet. Understandably, a groundwater quality
and protection management system is likely to be far more complicated than those
systems for managing groundwater quantity and surface water quality. Considering
the critical state of groundwater pollution, however, it is crucial that China establish
a groundwater protection system as soon as possible.
Government management failure resulting from poor system design and not
adapting to groundwater nature. Due to the inability of the management agencies concerned, high management costs, and poor design, the present management
systems in China are poorly implemented. Taking the water abstraction permit as an
example, according to the MWR Water Resources and its Development Assessment
of China, in 2000, there were 4.5529 million wells in northern China. According to the
2008 Water Resources Management Annual Report, however, there were 356,263
groundwater permits. These figures indicate that most groundwater development
is not managed. In terms of volume, this means that more than 80% of groundwater development is not controlled. In addition, given the low staff levels (there
were 45,172 water resources managers in China in 2007 (MWR 2008)) and current
management facilities, it would be impossible for this number of wells to be managed
effectively. Thus, improvements in staff and institutional capacity are also required.
8 Groundwater Management
a distinct system for groundwater management. According to the provisions of the
Water Law, the management of surface water and groundwater resources falls under
the same systems. However, the design of these systems is based on surface water
issues and cannot fully incorporate and adapt to the characteristics and requirements
of groundwater, leading to serious difficulties when applied to groundwater.
Lack of comprehensive legislation. Until now, no specific groundwater legislation
has been formulated at the central level in China. There are very few provisions
related to groundwater management in the Water Law. Most local legislation focuses
on special zones, such as urban areas, which only represent a small percentage in
terms of volume and area. Furthermore, this local legislation can only repeat and
detail the management measures defined by the upper level of China’s legislative
system.
Lack of coordinated management institution. The different understandings of
groundwater resources at the institutional level result in departmental conflicts. The
urban–rural boundary, the water and mineral resources distinction, and the depth of
groundwater level are all competing factors in the design of groundwater resources
management institutions. Existing departmental structures lead to sectoral management systems (such as the water resources fee and mineral resources compensation
fee, water abstraction permit, and mining permit systems, etc.). After 2018, with the
separation of functions between resources and use and between quantity and quality,
the requirement for an effective coordination mechanism has become more urgent.
Lack of groundwater quality management system. Almost all the groundwater
systems developed so far are designed to manage quantity, and no quality or protection
management system has been devised yet. Understandably, a groundwater quality
and protection management system is likely to be far more complicated than those
systems for managing groundwater quantity and surface water quality. Considering
the critical state of groundwater pollution, however, it is crucial that China establish
a groundwater protection system as soon as possible.
Government management failure resulting from poor system design and not
adapting to groundwater nature. Due to the inability of the management agencies concerned, high management costs, and poor design, the present management
systems in China are poorly implemented. Taking the water abstraction permit as an
example, according to the MWR Water Resources and its Development Assessment
of China, in 2000, there were 4.5529 million wells in northern China. According to the
2008 Water Resources Management Annual Report, however, there were 356,263
groundwater permits. These figures indicate that most groundwater development
is not managed. In terms of volume, this means that more than 80% of groundwater development is not controlled. In addition, given the low staff levels (there
were 45,172 water resources managers in China in 2007 (MWR 2008)) and current
management facilities, it would be impossible for this number of wells to be managed
effectively. Thus, improvements in staff and institutional capacity are also required.