15.4 Key Sectoral Reforms
329
It could be argued that the reform is not a pricing reform, but rather a comprehensive combination of pricing and water rights reform, infrastructure and improvement
management, cost-recovery and financial subsidy, institutional reform and mechanism innovation. Therefore, this particular set of changes is a mirror of the overall
agricultural water-use reform in China.
At the end of 2018, more than 10 million ha of cultivated land had been reformed,
but a shortage in metering restrained implementation of the reforms. Therefore, the
NDRC requested to finish 8 million ha in 2019 under the principle of “mechanism
building first, and engineering building thereafter” (NDRC 2019).
In the course of about 30 years of economic development, agricultural water
pricing has undergone a process from promoting cost-recovery to providing the
revenues for management organizations in the 1990s, reducing intermediate additional costs, decreasing farmer burdens, and promoting comprehensive pricing while
subsidizing farmers and promoting water saving from 2010 onwards. Agricultural
water pricing reform is now comprehensively involved in almost all aspects of
agricultural water resources management.
15.4.4 Agricultural Water Rights Reform
The concept of water rights was introduced in the late 1990s to deal with the severe
ecological problems faced by northwest inland rivers and the Yellow River, caused
by the over-exploitation of water resources. In order to allocate water for ecosystems,
the rights of water users, including agricultural users, had to be clarified in terms of
volume. Based on this concept, agricultural water rights reform was widely conducted
in northern China. By clarifying users’ rights, the changes promoted water-saving and
water-use efficiency, as well as highlighting the monetary value of water resources.
15.4.4.1 Water Certificates and Water Tickets
The water certificate is a kind of booklet issued by the WADs and/or irrigation
district management bureaus to farmers to define their water rights. A system of
water certificates can be used to formalize and provide information on the long-term
rights of users, setting out annual water entitlements (defined by available supply
in any given year), and the water purchased in each irrigation period. In addition,
the system can provide information on any water transactions that have occurred
between WUAs, and between WUAs and irrigation districts.
The water ticket, meanwhile, is the ticket that a farmer buys from a WUA or
irrigation district for watering. The tickets provide the basis for water purchases,
water deliveries, and water trading within prescribed limits. The ticketing system can
ensure that both farmers or their WUAs and irrigation districts have clear information
on prices, deliveries, and volumetric rights, allowing water users to trade savings
329
It could be argued that the reform is not a pricing reform, but rather a comprehensive combination of pricing and water rights reform, infrastructure and improvement
management, cost-recovery and financial subsidy, institutional reform and mechanism innovation. Therefore, this particular set of changes is a mirror of the overall
agricultural water-use reform in China.
At the end of 2018, more than 10 million ha of cultivated land had been reformed,
but a shortage in metering restrained implementation of the reforms. Therefore, the
NDRC requested to finish 8 million ha in 2019 under the principle of “mechanism
building first, and engineering building thereafter” (NDRC 2019).
In the course of about 30 years of economic development, agricultural water
pricing has undergone a process from promoting cost-recovery to providing the
revenues for management organizations in the 1990s, reducing intermediate additional costs, decreasing farmer burdens, and promoting comprehensive pricing while
subsidizing farmers and promoting water saving from 2010 onwards. Agricultural
water pricing reform is now comprehensively involved in almost all aspects of
agricultural water resources management.
15.4.4 Agricultural Water Rights Reform
The concept of water rights was introduced in the late 1990s to deal with the severe
ecological problems faced by northwest inland rivers and the Yellow River, caused
by the over-exploitation of water resources. In order to allocate water for ecosystems,
the rights of water users, including agricultural users, had to be clarified in terms of
volume. Based on this concept, agricultural water rights reform was widely conducted
in northern China. By clarifying users’ rights, the changes promoted water-saving and
water-use efficiency, as well as highlighting the monetary value of water resources.
15.4.4.1 Water Certificates and Water Tickets
The water certificate is a kind of booklet issued by the WADs and/or irrigation
district management bureaus to farmers to define their water rights. A system of
water certificates can be used to formalize and provide information on the long-term
rights of users, setting out annual water entitlements (defined by available supply
in any given year), and the water purchased in each irrigation period. In addition,
the system can provide information on any water transactions that have occurred
between WUAs, and between WUAs and irrigation districts.
The water ticket, meanwhile, is the ticket that a farmer buys from a WUA or
irrigation district for watering. The tickets provide the basis for water purchases,
water deliveries, and water trading within prescribed limits. The ticketing system can
ensure that both farmers or their WUAs and irrigation districts have clear information
on prices, deliveries, and volumetric rights, allowing water users to trade savings