344
16 Integrated Urban and Rural Water Affair Management Reform …
The reduction in agricultural water-use percentage is accompanied by increases in
industrial and domestic water use, from 69 billion m
3 in 1980, to 171 billion m
3 in
2000, and 227 billion m
3 in 2016. The high demands for reliability and water quality
for the urban water supply also impact the agricultural water supply.
At the same time, the relationship between rural and urban regions in terms
of water affairs is more and more closely with the increasing urbanization rate.
Compared to rural areas, urban regions cover a smaller area with fewer local water
resources but have greater economic value, denser population, and greater requirements for water use and quality. This results in urban areas taking substantial water
resources away from rural areas, and many agricultural water supply projects have
to change supply purposes. From 1980 to 2000, industrial and urban domestic water
usage increased from 45.7 billion m
3 to 114.2 billion m
3 and from 6.8 billion m
3
to 32.1 billion m
3 , respectively, and total water supply increased from 443.7 billion
m
3 to 549.7 billion m
3 . Therefore, it is clear that increases in industrial and urban
water supplies are partly realized through repurposing of agricultural water sources.
It is common all over China that water projects with stable supplies and good water
quality, such as reservoirs and high-quality groundwater sources, are changed to
supply urban areas.
At the same time, a large amount of urban wastewater discharge flows to rural areas
and pollutes rural river networks and water environments. Uncollected and untreated
urban wastewater emissions severely degrade rural environments and ecosystems. At
present, industrial and urban domestic discharge is the primary point-source pollution. In 2000, national wastewater discharge was 74.7 billion tons, of which 53.4
billion tons were discharged into water bodies. The ratio of wastewater to runoff was
as high as 0.5 in the Hai River Basin, 0.44 in the Taihu Lake basin, and 0.38 in the
Liao River Basin.
Traditionally, the water sector was regarded as the lifeline of agriculture in China.
The water department is generally under the macro-agricultural sector, rather than the
urban or construction sectors. The increase in the urbanization rate and the resulting
significant increase in urban water-use raise the need to reform water resources
management institutions as well as functions. The gap between rural or agricultural
and urban water resources management is more and more small in terms of water
supply sources and projects, and connections are increasingly required between rural
and urban water issues and water resources management. It is clear that some type
of institutional reform is needed to deal with changing rural and urban water affairs.
Given these changes and challenges, some water sector managers started to think
about and implement water sector institutional reform in the early 1990s in the form
of integrated urban and rural water affairs reform.
16 Integrated Urban and Rural Water Affair Management Reform …
The reduction in agricultural water-use percentage is accompanied by increases in
industrial and domestic water use, from 69 billion m
3 in 1980, to 171 billion m
3 in
2000, and 227 billion m
3 in 2016. The high demands for reliability and water quality
for the urban water supply also impact the agricultural water supply.
At the same time, the relationship between rural and urban regions in terms
of water affairs is more and more closely with the increasing urbanization rate.
Compared to rural areas, urban regions cover a smaller area with fewer local water
resources but have greater economic value, denser population, and greater requirements for water use and quality. This results in urban areas taking substantial water
resources away from rural areas, and many agricultural water supply projects have
to change supply purposes. From 1980 to 2000, industrial and urban domestic water
usage increased from 45.7 billion m
3 to 114.2 billion m
3 and from 6.8 billion m
3
to 32.1 billion m
3 , respectively, and total water supply increased from 443.7 billion
m
3 to 549.7 billion m
3 . Therefore, it is clear that increases in industrial and urban
water supplies are partly realized through repurposing of agricultural water sources.
It is common all over China that water projects with stable supplies and good water
quality, such as reservoirs and high-quality groundwater sources, are changed to
supply urban areas.
At the same time, a large amount of urban wastewater discharge flows to rural areas
and pollutes rural river networks and water environments. Uncollected and untreated
urban wastewater emissions severely degrade rural environments and ecosystems. At
present, industrial and urban domestic discharge is the primary point-source pollution. In 2000, national wastewater discharge was 74.7 billion tons, of which 53.4
billion tons were discharged into water bodies. The ratio of wastewater to runoff was
as high as 0.5 in the Hai River Basin, 0.44 in the Taihu Lake basin, and 0.38 in the
Liao River Basin.
Traditionally, the water sector was regarded as the lifeline of agriculture in China.
The water department is generally under the macro-agricultural sector, rather than the
urban or construction sectors. The increase in the urbanization rate and the resulting
significant increase in urban water-use raise the need to reform water resources
management institutions as well as functions. The gap between rural or agricultural
and urban water resources management is more and more small in terms of water
supply sources and projects, and connections are increasingly required between rural
and urban water issues and water resources management. It is clear that some type
of institutional reform is needed to deal with changing rural and urban water affairs.
Given these changes and challenges, some water sector managers started to think
about and implement water sector institutional reform in the early 1990s in the form
of integrated urban and rural water affairs reform.