436
19 Review and Outlook
required the comprehensive and integrated management of water resources (Qian
1985b). These challenges required the sector to deal with issues that included traditional issues like flooding, waterlogging, and irrigation as well as an emerging urban
water shortage in northern China.
To deal with flood disasters in major rivers and water shortages in northern China,
to develop comprehensive water use, and to protect water sources (Qian1984),
China’s water policy required the water sector to “serve fully and transit”, which
meant that the water sector was required to enlarge its service scope from being
focused mainly on agriculture to instead supporting the development of the national
economy and society as a whole, to shift from an emphasis on input and output to
increasing economic benefits for the river basin, and to shift from simple production
(of water) to comprehensive operations of the sector’s assets. This required the sector
to fully use existing infrastructure to increase water-use economic benefits and to
coordinate flood control, waterlogging, water supply, hydropower, water and soil
conservation, and water sources protection (Qian 1985a).
The importance of water resources was gradually realized in the early 1980s.
In 1981, China Water Resources issued a commentary “Must Emphasize on Water
Resources Issues” and pointed out that the urban water shortage in Beijing and Tianjin
at the end of 1970s reflected the incompatibility of urban industrial development and
water sources development, a situation that was exacerbated by water resources
development and management problems (Commenter of the Journal 1981).
Between 1979 and 1984, the first national water resources assessment was
conducted, involving a full investigation of water resource quantity, quality, distribution, and development. The assessment, documented in the “Water resources assessment for China” (Department of Hydrology, MWR 1987), provided the basis for
water resource development, use, and protection in China in the following 20 years.
In 2010, with the completion of the National Water Resources Comprehensive Plan,
a new assessment was released.
From 1982 to 1986, the MWP conducted a water resources supply and demand
analysis. Based on national guidelines, the analysis investigated sectoral water use in
1980, analyzed water shortages under existing supply facilities with different levels
of reliability (P = 50%, 75%, and 95%), forecasted water supply and demand in 1990
and 2000, and provided the countermeasures to address any forecasted water shortages. The results were published in “Water Resources Use for China” (Water and
Power Planning and Design Institute 1987). The methods developed in the analysis,
such as water resources use zones, forecasting methods, and data processing procedures, became the guidelines for the 1993 National Medium and Long-term Water
Supply and Demand Plan (Nanjing Institute of Hydrology and Water Resources,
MWR & Department of Water Resources, China Institute of Water Resources and
Hydropower Research 1999) and the 2002 National Water Resources Comprehensive
Plan (Chen 2009a).
The passage of the 1988 Water Law, the first modern water law in China,
was the most important event in the 1980s for the water sector. The law established the principles of water resources development and management for China,
19 Review and Outlook
required the comprehensive and integrated management of water resources (Qian
1985b). These challenges required the sector to deal with issues that included traditional issues like flooding, waterlogging, and irrigation as well as an emerging urban
water shortage in northern China.
To deal with flood disasters in major rivers and water shortages in northern China,
to develop comprehensive water use, and to protect water sources (Qian1984),
China’s water policy required the water sector to “serve fully and transit”, which
meant that the water sector was required to enlarge its service scope from being
focused mainly on agriculture to instead supporting the development of the national
economy and society as a whole, to shift from an emphasis on input and output to
increasing economic benefits for the river basin, and to shift from simple production
(of water) to comprehensive operations of the sector’s assets. This required the sector
to fully use existing infrastructure to increase water-use economic benefits and to
coordinate flood control, waterlogging, water supply, hydropower, water and soil
conservation, and water sources protection (Qian 1985a).
The importance of water resources was gradually realized in the early 1980s.
In 1981, China Water Resources issued a commentary “Must Emphasize on Water
Resources Issues” and pointed out that the urban water shortage in Beijing and Tianjin
at the end of 1970s reflected the incompatibility of urban industrial development and
water sources development, a situation that was exacerbated by water resources
development and management problems (Commenter of the Journal 1981).
Between 1979 and 1984, the first national water resources assessment was
conducted, involving a full investigation of water resource quantity, quality, distribution, and development. The assessment, documented in the “Water resources assessment for China” (Department of Hydrology, MWR 1987), provided the basis for
water resource development, use, and protection in China in the following 20 years.
In 2010, with the completion of the National Water Resources Comprehensive Plan,
a new assessment was released.
From 1982 to 1986, the MWP conducted a water resources supply and demand
analysis. Based on national guidelines, the analysis investigated sectoral water use in
1980, analyzed water shortages under existing supply facilities with different levels
of reliability (P = 50%, 75%, and 95%), forecasted water supply and demand in 1990
and 2000, and provided the countermeasures to address any forecasted water shortages. The results were published in “Water Resources Use for China” (Water and
Power Planning and Design Institute 1987). The methods developed in the analysis,
such as water resources use zones, forecasting methods, and data processing procedures, became the guidelines for the 1993 National Medium and Long-term Water
Supply and Demand Plan (Nanjing Institute of Hydrology and Water Resources,
MWR & Department of Water Resources, China Institute of Water Resources and
Hydropower Research 1999) and the 2002 National Water Resources Comprehensive
Plan (Chen 2009a).
The passage of the 1988 Water Law, the first modern water law in China,
was the most important event in the 1980s for the water sector. The law established the principles of water resources development and management for China,