Water Resources Management in the People's Republic of China

by Xuetao Sun (Editor), Robert Speed (Editor), Dajun Shen (Editor)

Overview

Chinese water resource managers face a challenge that is both immense and unique. They must balance limited water supplies against the needs of the world’s largest population; demands for rapid economic growth with calls for improved environmental management; and the desire for a market-based approach to the allocation of water with a history of State ownership and strict government control of all resources.

In China, changes are occurring in water resources management that are representative of many of the fundamental changes occurring within Chinese society, on issues such as property rights, community participation, improved environmental management, and the shift towards market-based decision making.

This book describes the development of a water rights system in the People’s Republic of China. It covers different aspects of water resources management in China – including water planning, the provision of environmental flows, urban water management, and irrigation district management – and examines how these are being addressed through a rights-based approach. The book includes several detailed examples of the Chinese application of water rights as they address the diverse challenges of different basins across China.

This book previously appeared as a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Development.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415543576
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/23/2009
Series:	Routledge Special Issues on Water Policy and Governance
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Sun Xuetao is the Deputy-Director of the Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Water Resources, People’s Republic of China. In that role, he leads the formulation and implementation of China’s policies for water resources management. He has worked in water resources management in China for almost ten years.

Robert Speed is a water policy consultant from Brisbane, Australia and was the Australian Team Leader on the China Water Entitlements and Trading project from 2006-8. Robert has held senior positions in the Water Reform Unit of the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water and was involved in the development and implementation of the Australian water sector reforms.

Shen Dajun is a senior engineer at the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, and has worked in water resources management for more than 10 years. He had been the team leader for more than 10 international and domestic water projects and has published more than 50 books and papers on water resources management.

Table of Contents

1. Overview of water resources and water management arrangements in China Robert Speed and Martin Cosier 2. Water rights and trading and the future of water rights in China Bin Liu 3. Water resources allocation in China Dajun Shen and Robert Speed 4. Approaches to determining and defining requirements for environmental flows in Chinese rivers Xiqin Wang and Cassie James 5. Management of urban water supplies Martin Cosier and Dajun Shen 6. Agricultural water rights in China Roger Calow 7. Water transfers and trading Robert Speed 8. Water resources allocation in the Shiyang river basin Zhongjing Wang 9. Balancing water demands and environmental flows in the Jiao River Martin Cosier, Chris Gippel, Cassie James and Nick Bond 10. Granting water rights to farmers in Hangjin irrigation district Zhongjing Wang 11. Water rights: lessons for China and lessons from China Robert Speed