444
19 Review and Outlook
The limitation of this period, however, was that there was arguably too much focus
on exploring theories and undertaking pilot cases, and not enough resources were
devoted to expanding these initiatives more widely.
19.3.4 Post-2009: Market-Oriented Final Solution
Although there were significant successes in water resources management from
1998–2008, with the decrease in central water investment after the mid-2000s
following completion of a series of large-scale infrastructure projects in the mainstreams of China’s major rivers (Wang 2007), key water issues were not effectively
addressed.
In 2007, blue algae broke out in Tai Lake, severely impacting the drinking water
supply of millions of people in Suzhou Prefecture, Jiangsu Province. The case was
symptomatic of a serious deterioration in water quality and water ecological systems
in China. The water pollution extended from tributaries to the mainstreams, from
urban areas to rural areas, from surface water to groundwater, and from land to
coastal areas. At the same time, water shortages increased to 40 billion m
3 annually,
despite the fact that annual water supply capacity had reached 659.1 billion m
3 , and
the annual overdraw of groundwater reached 22.8 billion m
3 (Chen 2009b).
As discussed in Chap. 12, an analysis of these problems showed, from the point
of view of water resources management, that two issues were the keys: (1) the lack
of control over the total volume of water resources development (abstraction) and
wastewater discharge, and (2) the limited implementation of water resources management systems coupled with the impacts of the external environment, such as those
related to the pursuit of economic development. This raised the question of how to
improve the implementation of China’s water resources management systems.
The “strictest water resources management strategy” was developed as a final
solution to address China’s water issues. The strategy required changes in approach
in six key aspects of the water management system: from supply management to
demand management, from prioritizing water resource development and use to prioritizing water resource saving and protection, from control to prevention, from overdevelopment and disorderly development to reasonable development, from waste to
effective use, and from administrative management to comprehensive management
(Chen 2009b).
The contents of the strategy are designed to improve and implement water
resources management systems and policies, and to define and strictly enforce a set
of three management “redlines”: a water resources development redline to control
water usage, a water function zone pollutant assimilation redline to control total
pollutant discharge into water bodies, and a water-use efficiency redline to control
water waste (Chen, 2009b).
Following the development of the strategy, a series of guiding and supporting
policies were formulated and issued. In 2011, the State No. 1 Document “Decision
on Speeding Water Sector Development and Reform” established the framework
19 Review and Outlook
The limitation of this period, however, was that there was arguably too much focus
on exploring theories and undertaking pilot cases, and not enough resources were
devoted to expanding these initiatives more widely.
19.3.4 Post-2009: Market-Oriented Final Solution
Although there were significant successes in water resources management from
1998–2008, with the decrease in central water investment after the mid-2000s
following completion of a series of large-scale infrastructure projects in the mainstreams of China’s major rivers (Wang 2007), key water issues were not effectively
addressed.
In 2007, blue algae broke out in Tai Lake, severely impacting the drinking water
supply of millions of people in Suzhou Prefecture, Jiangsu Province. The case was
symptomatic of a serious deterioration in water quality and water ecological systems
in China. The water pollution extended from tributaries to the mainstreams, from
urban areas to rural areas, from surface water to groundwater, and from land to
coastal areas. At the same time, water shortages increased to 40 billion m
3 annually,
despite the fact that annual water supply capacity had reached 659.1 billion m
3 , and
the annual overdraw of groundwater reached 22.8 billion m
3 (Chen 2009b).
As discussed in Chap. 12, an analysis of these problems showed, from the point
of view of water resources management, that two issues were the keys: (1) the lack
of control over the total volume of water resources development (abstraction) and
wastewater discharge, and (2) the limited implementation of water resources management systems coupled with the impacts of the external environment, such as those
related to the pursuit of economic development. This raised the question of how to
improve the implementation of China’s water resources management systems.
The “strictest water resources management strategy” was developed as a final
solution to address China’s water issues. The strategy required changes in approach
in six key aspects of the water management system: from supply management to
demand management, from prioritizing water resource development and use to prioritizing water resource saving and protection, from control to prevention, from overdevelopment and disorderly development to reasonable development, from waste to
effective use, and from administrative management to comprehensive management
(Chen 2009b).
The contents of the strategy are designed to improve and implement water
resources management systems and policies, and to define and strictly enforce a set
of three management “redlines”: a water resources development redline to control
water usage, a water function zone pollutant assimilation redline to control total
pollutant discharge into water bodies, and a water-use efficiency redline to control
water waste (Chen, 2009b).
Following the development of the strategy, a series of guiding and supporting
policies were formulated and issued. In 2011, the State No. 1 Document “Decision
on Speeding Water Sector Development and Reform” established the framework