5 Reality and Challenges of China’s Water Resources Management …
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life, non-point source pollution of farmland, acid rain and poor reuse. Factual statistics published by the World Resources Institute revealed that nearly one third of
the ten major river systems in China suffer from poor water quality; while 60% of
the underground water monitoring stations indicate severe pollution. The 2018 Water
Quality Assessment of Waterhead Areas in China published by Public Environmental
Research Center in 2019 showed that pollutants exceeding standards were detected
in 251 waterhead areas in 110 prefectural cities/counties under provincial administration in 27 provinces in 2018, of which 107 waterhead areas were found to exceed
the pollution standards in all samplings in 2018, including 81 underground water
sources and 26 surface water sources; 32 of these water resources were at prefectural
level or above while 75 were at county level. The grave water pollution has made
water environment governance an urgent task for the country.
Fortunately, China has scored initial success in protecting water ecological environment with stricter water resources management and continued progress in the
battle against water pollution. Statistics released by the Ministry of Ecology and
Environmental indicates that in 2019, 74.9% of the 1940 surface water monitored
sections were rated as good water quality, up 3.9% points year-on-year; 3.4% of the
controlled sections were worse than Grade V, down 3.3% points from the same period
of the previous year. Efforts in tackling water pollution have been redoubled in recent
years while the economic growth model at the cost of water environment is gradually
reversed, which signals increasing quality-oriented development. However, unbalanced and poorly coordinated water environment protection remains a prominent
issue, and quality improvement of water resources still requires an uphill battle.
5.1.2 Trends of Change and Variation of Temporal
and Geographical Distribution of China’s Water
Resources
According to the study of (Li et al. 2014), during fifty-five years from 1956 to
2010, China’s total renewable water resources remained at an annual average of
approximately 2.755 trillion m
3 , with annual fluctuations around the average due to
inter-annual variation in climate conditions (Fig. 5.2). The change of China’s total
water resources was insignificant with a slight increase during the past 55 years from
1956 to 2010, while mere 1% of increase of annual water resources in the last 20 years
compared to historical average value. Nevertheless, the inter-annual variation within
the 20 years from 1991 to 2010 showed a tendency of growth as compared to the
annual average from 1961 to 1990, and such inter-annual fluctuation has not abated
in recent years. Within the 55 years, the records in most years varied about 1 ± 10%
compared to the average. There are 9 years experienced a fluctuation between 10 and
20%, while one year (1998) witnessed an 20% excess of the average.
163
life, non-point source pollution of farmland, acid rain and poor reuse. Factual statistics published by the World Resources Institute revealed that nearly one third of
the ten major river systems in China suffer from poor water quality; while 60% of
the underground water monitoring stations indicate severe pollution. The 2018 Water
Quality Assessment of Waterhead Areas in China published by Public Environmental
Research Center in 2019 showed that pollutants exceeding standards were detected
in 251 waterhead areas in 110 prefectural cities/counties under provincial administration in 27 provinces in 2018, of which 107 waterhead areas were found to exceed
the pollution standards in all samplings in 2018, including 81 underground water
sources and 26 surface water sources; 32 of these water resources were at prefectural
level or above while 75 were at county level. The grave water pollution has made
water environment governance an urgent task for the country.
Fortunately, China has scored initial success in protecting water ecological environment with stricter water resources management and continued progress in the
battle against water pollution. Statistics released by the Ministry of Ecology and
Environmental indicates that in 2019, 74.9% of the 1940 surface water monitored
sections were rated as good water quality, up 3.9% points year-on-year; 3.4% of the
controlled sections were worse than Grade V, down 3.3% points from the same period
of the previous year. Efforts in tackling water pollution have been redoubled in recent
years while the economic growth model at the cost of water environment is gradually
reversed, which signals increasing quality-oriented development. However, unbalanced and poorly coordinated water environment protection remains a prominent
issue, and quality improvement of water resources still requires an uphill battle.
5.1.2 Trends of Change and Variation of Temporal
and Geographical Distribution of China’s Water
Resources
According to the study of (Li et al. 2014), during fifty-five years from 1956 to
2010, China’s total renewable water resources remained at an annual average of
approximately 2.755 trillion m
3 , with annual fluctuations around the average due to
inter-annual variation in climate conditions (Fig. 5.2). The change of China’s total
water resources was insignificant with a slight increase during the past 55 years from
1956 to 2010, while mere 1% of increase of annual water resources in the last 20 years
compared to historical average value. Nevertheless, the inter-annual variation within
the 20 years from 1991 to 2010 showed a tendency of growth as compared to the
annual average from 1961 to 1990, and such inter-annual fluctuation has not abated
in recent years. Within the 55 years, the records in most years varied about 1 ± 10%
compared to the average. There are 9 years experienced a fluctuation between 10 and
20%, while one year (1998) witnessed an 20% excess of the average.