2.2 Main Water Resources Management Systems
33
the MWR or its RBO. Nuclear power plants, which sometimes use less freshwater,
are managed by the central government because of their importance.
Abstraction area. This definition includes two aspects: the abstraction area, such
as the urban planning zone or groundwater overdraft zone, and the administrative or
geographical region, such as prefectures in a province with significant water resources
circumstances or mountains and plains in a province.
Scale of the water project. This category consists of several aspects, such as the scale
of the water project for abstraction, for example, reservoir storage, and the scale of
the water abstraction project, for example, the installed capacity of the power station
or pumping station.
Abstraction unit. This category is applied to define the management agency
according to nature of applicant for water abstraction. For example, the application of the central and provincial units for directly abstracting groundwater should
be managed by the provincial WAD in Tianjin. This rule is not widely applied in
most provinces.
In practice, the more common method is the combination of these rules, such as site
with volume, area with volume, source with volume, and so on. Thus, this approach
forms the diverse local water abstraction permit applications, which follow the
national design framework and combine it with specific local management requirements. However, this diversity is a challenge to water resources management under
a centralized system in China, particularly in the formulation and implementation of
a river basin water resources allocation plan.
As for implementation, at the end of 2017, there were 349,187 effective permits,
with a permitted volume of 9,227.6 billion m
3 . Of these, permits for out-of-stream use
comprised 314,626 units, with a permitted volume of 381.4 billion m
3 . The percentages of the permits for out-of-stream surface water, groundwater, and other sources
were 16.6, 83.2, and 0.2%, respectively, with 87.8, 12.1, and 0.1%, respectively, in
terms of non-instream total permitted volume. As for the management agency, RBOs
had 1,397 units, with a permitted volume of 3,668.8 billion m
3 (Water Resources
Management Centre, MWR 2018).
2.2.4 Water Resources Fee System
As with the water permit system, the water resources fee system is one of the fundamental systems for water resources management in China. The water resources fee
system is a design of internal incentive: it seeks to achieve the goal of water resources
management through the internal (price) incentive mechanism.
The water resources fee system is based on the dual identity of the state as both
the owner and manager of water resources. It is a system to collect a water resources
fee from the unit or individual directly abstracting water from rivers, lakes, and
aquifers to realize ownership equality and ensure the sustainable utilization of water
33
the MWR or its RBO. Nuclear power plants, which sometimes use less freshwater,
are managed by the central government because of their importance.
Abstraction area. This definition includes two aspects: the abstraction area, such
as the urban planning zone or groundwater overdraft zone, and the administrative or
geographical region, such as prefectures in a province with significant water resources
circumstances or mountains and plains in a province.
Scale of the water project. This category consists of several aspects, such as the scale
of the water project for abstraction, for example, reservoir storage, and the scale of
the water abstraction project, for example, the installed capacity of the power station
or pumping station.
Abstraction unit. This category is applied to define the management agency
according to nature of applicant for water abstraction. For example, the application of the central and provincial units for directly abstracting groundwater should
be managed by the provincial WAD in Tianjin. This rule is not widely applied in
most provinces.
In practice, the more common method is the combination of these rules, such as site
with volume, area with volume, source with volume, and so on. Thus, this approach
forms the diverse local water abstraction permit applications, which follow the
national design framework and combine it with specific local management requirements. However, this diversity is a challenge to water resources management under
a centralized system in China, particularly in the formulation and implementation of
a river basin water resources allocation plan.
As for implementation, at the end of 2017, there were 349,187 effective permits,
with a permitted volume of 9,227.6 billion m
3 . Of these, permits for out-of-stream use
comprised 314,626 units, with a permitted volume of 381.4 billion m
3 . The percentages of the permits for out-of-stream surface water, groundwater, and other sources
were 16.6, 83.2, and 0.2%, respectively, with 87.8, 12.1, and 0.1%, respectively, in
terms of non-instream total permitted volume. As for the management agency, RBOs
had 1,397 units, with a permitted volume of 3,668.8 billion m
3 (Water Resources
Management Centre, MWR 2018).
2.2.4 Water Resources Fee System
As with the water permit system, the water resources fee system is one of the fundamental systems for water resources management in China. The water resources fee
system is a design of internal incentive: it seeks to achieve the goal of water resources
management through the internal (price) incentive mechanism.
The water resources fee system is based on the dual identity of the state as both
the owner and manager of water resources. It is a system to collect a water resources
fee from the unit or individual directly abstracting water from rivers, lakes, and
aquifers to realize ownership equality and ensure the sustainable utilization of water