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9 Water Quality Management
lakes, and ponds; (b) the discharge outlet management considers rivers and lakes
discharge places; (c) and the pollutant discharge permit considers the environment a
discharge place. Therefore, it might be necessary to issue three permits for only one
discharge! Other systems related to water quality management also have overlaps,
such as the water resources justification system and EIA, which both focus on return
flow.
Risks of separate management between water quality and water quantity.
Perhaps as a tradition, water quality and water quantity have always been managed
separately after water quality became a management issue. Water quantity management is attached to water resources development and water disaster relief, which have
a long history in China. Before 2018, water quality was managed by several agencies with relatively balanced powers, such as MEP, MWR, MNR, and MOHURD.
However, in 2018, MEE became the dominant agency in water quality management,
while MWR gained control of water quantity. Water quality and quantity are almost
completely separately managed, which raises challenges to the coordination between
quality and quantity.
Focus on pollution control at the end rather than water resources protection at
the source. In China, there is the trend of focusing on pollution control after water is
used rather than protecting water quality before its use. Most of the systems focus on
how to treat wastewater and how to manage and control wastewater discharges, and
only the water function zones and drinking water sources protection zones are directly
related to water resources protection. Nonetheless, in a river basin context, the limited
area of protection zones could not really protect drinking water sources. Additionally,
water function zones are heavily impacted by wastewater discharges and upstream
pollution, which completely twists the purposes of water quality management.
Poor implementation. Although China has developed a general framework for water
quality management, its poor implementation in the past 40 years has influenced its
overall effectiveness. Among all these existing systems, the charge system is the best
because of its economic incentives. The permit system is not properly implemented
due to a lack of supervision. The water pollutant discharge permit was introduced in
1980s but only implemented in recent years. The water abstraction permit was implemented after 1993, but in its early stages, the focus was to issue the permits rather
than supervise the permit holders. Finally, the standards are overly complicated, with
the drinking water standard featuring 106 parameters. This has meant that even the
large water supply companies in big cities are unable to meet the standards due to
the necessary treatment processes, networks, and poor water quality at the sources.
Inadequate capacity. The ability to implement water quality management in China is
weak and includes an inadequate capacity to monitor the status of the water quality.
Up to this point, not all water function zones are functioning regularly and well
monitored, and not all point sources of pollution are monitored and metered. In the
planning system, consistency among different levels of plans is poor. Inadequate
capacity deteriorates the implementation of water quality management systems.
9 Water Quality Management
lakes, and ponds; (b) the discharge outlet management considers rivers and lakes
discharge places; (c) and the pollutant discharge permit considers the environment a
discharge place. Therefore, it might be necessary to issue three permits for only one
discharge! Other systems related to water quality management also have overlaps,
such as the water resources justification system and EIA, which both focus on return
flow.
Risks of separate management between water quality and water quantity.
Perhaps as a tradition, water quality and water quantity have always been managed
separately after water quality became a management issue. Water quantity management is attached to water resources development and water disaster relief, which have
a long history in China. Before 2018, water quality was managed by several agencies with relatively balanced powers, such as MEP, MWR, MNR, and MOHURD.
However, in 2018, MEE became the dominant agency in water quality management,
while MWR gained control of water quantity. Water quality and quantity are almost
completely separately managed, which raises challenges to the coordination between
quality and quantity.
Focus on pollution control at the end rather than water resources protection at
the source. In China, there is the trend of focusing on pollution control after water is
used rather than protecting water quality before its use. Most of the systems focus on
how to treat wastewater and how to manage and control wastewater discharges, and
only the water function zones and drinking water sources protection zones are directly
related to water resources protection. Nonetheless, in a river basin context, the limited
area of protection zones could not really protect drinking water sources. Additionally,
water function zones are heavily impacted by wastewater discharges and upstream
pollution, which completely twists the purposes of water quality management.
Poor implementation. Although China has developed a general framework for water
quality management, its poor implementation in the past 40 years has influenced its
overall effectiveness. Among all these existing systems, the charge system is the best
because of its economic incentives. The permit system is not properly implemented
due to a lack of supervision. The water pollutant discharge permit was introduced in
1980s but only implemented in recent years. The water abstraction permit was implemented after 1993, but in its early stages, the focus was to issue the permits rather
than supervise the permit holders. Finally, the standards are overly complicated, with
the drinking water standard featuring 106 parameters. This has meant that even the
large water supply companies in big cities are unable to meet the standards due to
the necessary treatment processes, networks, and poor water quality at the sources.
Inadequate capacity. The ability to implement water quality management in China is
weak and includes an inadequate capacity to monitor the status of the water quality.
Up to this point, not all water function zones are functioning regularly and well
monitored, and not all point sources of pollution are monitored and metered. In the
planning system, consistency among different levels of plans is poor. Inadequate
capacity deteriorates the implementation of water quality management systems.