350
16 Integrated Urban and Rural Water Affair Management Reform …
Before the WAB was established, the water resources bureau or water department
of the municipality had been affiliated with the agricultural committee or sector since
the 1950s. In 1999, when GDP per capita of the municipality exceeded $3,700, a
question was posed to the municipal decision-maker: as an industrial city and the
most advanced city in China, the water sector of the municipality was still agriculturally dominated, as well as its institution? Nine departments were involved in
water management. Surface water and groundwater, water quality and quantity, river
courses and water sources, and water resource regulation and urban water supply
were managed separately (Wu 2000).
In consideration of Shanghai’s role as a mega-city, river basin, and correlation
of water resources, in May 2000, the Shanghai Municipal Government decided to
no longer maintain its water resources bureau and instead established a WAB. The
WAB would consolidate the functions of water resources management from the
water resources bureau, management of water supply and groundwater development in the urban planning zone from the public utility bureau, and management of
urban drainage and wastewater treatment from the municipal engineering management bureau. The new WAB concentrated the functions of water resources management, water supply, and drainage and became the first provincial WAB implementing
reform throughout the jurisdiction.
After the establishment of the WAB in Shanghai, a new water strategy was developed which was reflected in “four relationships” and “three transitions” as follows
(Zhang 2002):
• The relationship among water security, resources, and the environment: through
the unified management of water resources, to coordinate development of security,
resources, and the environment to realize flood-control security, efficient use of
water resources, and water pollution control.
• The urban and suburban relationship: to promote integrated and coordinated urban
and rural development.
• The sector structural relationship among water resources, water supply, and
drainage: to ensure that the municipal water supply capacity could meet demand;
to increase drainage and wastewater treatment capacity; to upgrade discharge standards, wastewater collection coverage, and facility usage; and to improve water
supply quality.
• The relationship between public-interest and market mechanisms: to develop
a new mechanism for water affairs investment, construction, operation, and
management.
• Three transitions: (1) transition water sector management from single and separate
management to integrated management, (2) transition the operational mechanism
from closed and monopolistic to open and market-oriented, and (3) transition the
development strategy from quantitative enlargement to qualitative and efficiency
improvement.
At present, the duties of the Shanghai WAB (the Shanghai Oceanic Bureau is
incorporated into the WAB but has its own name) are as follows:
16 Integrated Urban and Rural Water Affair Management Reform …
Before the WAB was established, the water resources bureau or water department
of the municipality had been affiliated with the agricultural committee or sector since
the 1950s. In 1999, when GDP per capita of the municipality exceeded $3,700, a
question was posed to the municipal decision-maker: as an industrial city and the
most advanced city in China, the water sector of the municipality was still agriculturally dominated, as well as its institution? Nine departments were involved in
water management. Surface water and groundwater, water quality and quantity, river
courses and water sources, and water resource regulation and urban water supply
were managed separately (Wu 2000).
In consideration of Shanghai’s role as a mega-city, river basin, and correlation
of water resources, in May 2000, the Shanghai Municipal Government decided to
no longer maintain its water resources bureau and instead established a WAB. The
WAB would consolidate the functions of water resources management from the
water resources bureau, management of water supply and groundwater development in the urban planning zone from the public utility bureau, and management of
urban drainage and wastewater treatment from the municipal engineering management bureau. The new WAB concentrated the functions of water resources management, water supply, and drainage and became the first provincial WAB implementing
reform throughout the jurisdiction.
After the establishment of the WAB in Shanghai, a new water strategy was developed which was reflected in “four relationships” and “three transitions” as follows
(Zhang 2002):
• The relationship among water security, resources, and the environment: through
the unified management of water resources, to coordinate development of security,
resources, and the environment to realize flood-control security, efficient use of
water resources, and water pollution control.
• The urban and suburban relationship: to promote integrated and coordinated urban
and rural development.
• The sector structural relationship among water resources, water supply, and
drainage: to ensure that the municipal water supply capacity could meet demand;
to increase drainage and wastewater treatment capacity; to upgrade discharge standards, wastewater collection coverage, and facility usage; and to improve water
supply quality.
• The relationship between public-interest and market mechanisms: to develop
a new mechanism for water affairs investment, construction, operation, and
management.
• Three transitions: (1) transition water sector management from single and separate
management to integrated management, (2) transition the operational mechanism
from closed and monopolistic to open and market-oriented, and (3) transition the
development strategy from quantitative enlargement to qualitative and efficiency
improvement.
At present, the duties of the Shanghai WAB (the Shanghai Oceanic Bureau is
incorporated into the WAB but has its own name) are as follows: