Edit ASI: ASI:Determining Fair Payment for Ecosystem Services

You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reason:

You are not allowed to execute the action you have requested.

You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reason:

You are not allowed to execute the action you have requested.

While the historical, geographical and scientific facts involved in a water management problem or water conflict can often be attributed to well-respected sources and agreed upon by multiple parties, each problem can also have multiple facets and not all issues may be considered equally important by all parties. Certain perspectives may interpret the implications of neutral facts in a different way from others.

Because of this, each case study can be linked to multiple articles in which contributors can provide analysis or insights and synthesis different viewpoints or lines of evidence. Professionals, academics, and community-members who have some involvement with the case first hand might have different experiences or interpretations to share. The goal is to collect a wide range of knowledge on these cases, which requires incorporating multiple (and sometimes conflicting) viewpoints into each case.

Each of these Analysis, Synthesis, & Insights (ASI) sections is protected -- only the user who created the section, official editors, and administrators have the ability to change the content in an individual ASI. Editors who take on the task of editing a user-contributed ASI section are committed to only adjust grammar and stylistic issues, and will avoid any changes that could lead to a different meaning or adjust content.

We suggest that anyone who would like to help improve an ASI section leave comments for the author and community on the discussion page for the specific ASI section. If you have questions about how this works, please refer to the help section or contact a site administrator.

[edit]

Margaret Garcia
Enter the contributor's name and (optional) link to a descriptive website, such as a professional bio or AquaPedia user page.

Enter the contributor's name and (optional) link to a descriptive website, such as a professional bio or AquaPedia user page.

Link to Case Study :

Water Quality Control of the South-to-North Water Diversion (SNWD) Middle Route Project (MRP)

ASI articles need to be linked to a specific case study. If the case title above is not correct, you can select a different case.

Summary - Displayed only in Case Study:

Image Upload - open the image upload page in a new tab:
Upload a File View all Files
You can find or upload a file and then return here.

To insert an image in your text, type: [[File:filename.jpg]]

ASI - Extended Article Content

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment defines ecosystem services as “the benefits people obtain from ecosystems” <ref name="MEA 2005">Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. (2005). Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Island Press, Washington.</ref>. Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) is a voluntary exchange where a defined environmental service is bought from the provider as long as the provider meets a given standard <ref name="Wunder 2005"> Wunder, S. (2005). Payments for environmental services: some nuts and bolts (No. 42). Bogor: CIFOR.</ref>. In the case of the SNWTP MRP, the downstream WRA is buying water quality protection services from the WSA with the condition that the water quality must meet or exceed the Chinese Surface Water Standard Class II criteria.

Shiyan City has been the focus of PES schemes for the MRP because it is the largest city located in the Danjiangkou Reservoir source protection area and is significantly impacted by both the MRP construction and water quality control plans. Shiyan City covers an area of 2,368,000 ha and includes Danjiangkou Town, Yun County, Yunxi County, Fang County, Zhu County and Zhuxi County <ref name="Dong et al 2011"> Dong, Z., Yan, Y., Duan, J., Fu, X., Zhou, Q., Huang, X., Zhu, X., et al. (2011). Computing payment for ecosystem services in watersheds: An analysis of the Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion in China. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 23(12), 2005–2012. doi:10.1016/S1001-0742(10)60663-8.</ref>. The economy of Shiyan City is based on natural resources such as agricultural, mining and papermaking; due to industry and untreated sewage there are significant water quality problems in the Danjiangkou Reservoir and its tributaries <ref name="Dong et al 2011"> Dong, Z., Yan, Y., Duan, J., Fu, X., Zhou, Q., Huang, X., Zhu, X., et al. (2011). Computing payment for ecosystem services in watersheds: An analysis of the Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion in China. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 23(12), 2005–2012. doi:10.1016/S1001-0742(10)60663-8.</ref>. MRP construction will flood 17,000 ha of land and force 116,000 to emigrate while the water quality control plan will convert 27,000 ha of cropland into forest and grassland <ref name="WPC 2005"> Water Pollution Control & Soil and Water Conservation Plan Drafting Committee (2005). Water Pollution Control & Soil and Water Conservation Plan of Danjiangkou Reservoir and Upstream</ref>. Additionally the water quality control plan will require polluting facilities to close, including 3622 paper mills <ref name="Shiyan City Bureau of Statistics"> Shiyan City Bureau of Statistics. (2007). Shiyan City Statistical Yearbook 1998-2007. China Statistics Press, Beijing.</ref>. While the water quality control plan will clearly improve environmental quality in the WSA, the majority of the benefits will be enjoyed by the WRA.

The central government has committed to financing 60% of the water quality control projects in the WSA with the remaining 40% to be financed locally; according to this split the central government has budgeted 2.60x109 CNY of an estimated total cost of 4.33x109 CNY <ref name="Dong & Wang 2011"> Dong, Z., & Wang, J. (2011). Quantitative standard of eco-compensation for the water source area in the middle route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project in China. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering in China, 5(3), 459–473. doi:10.1007/s11783-010-0288-9.</ref>.  However, calculations by Dong and Wang, estimate total water quality control project cost to be 9.45x109 CNY, leaving a large budget gap. Additionally, neither cost estimate considers the indirect costs incurred by the WSA including loss of development potential and lowered tax base through submergence of agricultural land, closing of polluting factories, conversion of agricultural land to forest in erosion prone areas, and restrictions on future industry which is estimated to be 6.75x109 CNY <ref name="Dong & Wang 2011"> Dong, Z., & Wang, J. (2011). Quantitative standard of eco-compensation for the water source area in the middle route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project in China. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering in China, 5(3), 459–473. doi:10.1007/s11783-010-0288-9.</ref>.

In 2008, in an effort to compensate the source area, the Chinese Ministry of Finance authorized a transfer payment of 3.07 x108 from the receiving area to the source area <ref name="Dong & Wang 2011"> Dong, Z., & Wang, J. (2011). Quantitative standard of eco-compensation for the water source area in the middle route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project in China. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering in China, 5(3), 459–473. doi:10.1007/s11783-010-0288-9.</ref>.  While useful, the transfer still leaves the WSA bearing the majority of the cost. Taking the indirect costs and the existing economic disparities between the regions into consideration further highlights the inequities of the current scheme. In an effort to illuminate this disparity and provide quantitative guidance for future transfer payments, two research teams have investigated alternate methods for determining fair PES.

Dong and Wang<ref name="Dong & Wang 2011"> Dong, Z., & Wang, J. (2011). Quantitative standard of eco-compensation for the water source area in the middle route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project in China. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering in China, 5(3), 459–473. doi:10.1007/s11783-010-0288-9.</ref>, analyzed three criteria for burden sharing in water transfer projects: water consumption, benefit from ecological services and maximum payment capacity. The team used these three frameworks to determine the cost split for water quality control for the SNWTP MRP. They found that the three criteria yielded three different burden sharing splits: 3% WSA and 97% WRA for water consumption criteria, 31% WSA and 69% WRA for ecological benefit criteria, 12% WSA and 88% WRA for maximum payment capacity criteria (Dong and Wang 2011).

Dong et al. <ref name="Dong et al 2011"> Dong, Z., Yan, Y., Duan, J., Fu, X., Zhou, Q., Huang, X., Zhu, X., et al. (2011). Computing payment for ecosystem services in watersheds: An analysis of the Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion in China. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 23(12), 2005–2012. doi:10.1016/S1001-0742(10)60663-8.</ref> investigated an upper and lower bound for PES for the MRP: the net direct-opportunity cost for the WSA is proposed as the lower bound and the net benefit for the WRA is proposed as the upper bound. The net direct-opportunity cost is found by adding the direct costs and the opportunity costs and subtracting the national financing contribution and the internal effect of the project. Direct costs include capital construction costs as well as ongoing maintenance and monitoring costs. Opportunity costs include industrial opportunity costs which were computed by comparing the annual GDP of two regions with and without the industries in question and agricultural opportunity costs which were computed based on surveys of local farmers. The internal effect, or the local benefit of the project, was not computed directly due the complexity of estimating the benefit on health, tourism, industrial development, etc. Instead, the internal effect was estimated using a cost effectiveness ratio (the amount of local benefit per CYN invested). The net benefit for the WRA focuses on water treatment costs avoided <ref name="Dong et al 2011"> Dong, Z., Yan, Y., Duan, J., Fu, X., Zhou, Q., Huang, X., Zhu, X., et al. (2011). Computing payment for ecosystem services in watersheds: An analysis of the Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion in China. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 23(12), 2005–2012. doi:10.1016/S1001-0742(10)60663-8.</ref>.

While Dong and Wang or the Dong et al. analyses differ in fair PES recommended, both offer clear methodologies for determining a fair payment. The Dong and Wang study highlights that agreement on fair PES hinges on agreement on criteria. For example, while water consumed and cost of ecological benefits are both measures of benefits consumed, resulting payment splits differ greatly<ref name="Dong & Wang 2011"> Dong, Z., & Wang, J. (2011). Quantitative standard of eco-compensation for the water source area in the middle route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project in China. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering in China, 5(3), 459–473. doi:10.1007/s11783-010-0288-9.</ref>. Dong et al <ref name="Dong et al 2011"> Dong, Z., Yan, Y., Duan, J., Fu, X., Zhou, Q., Huang, X., Zhu, X., et al. (2011). Computing payment for ecosystem services in watersheds: An analysis of the Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion in China. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 23(12), 2005–2012. doi:10.1016/S1001-0742(10)60663-8.</ref>, attempts to balance costs incurred by the WSA with the benefits and assistance the WSA communities receive.

Perspective(s)
Selecting any of these choices expresses to to the reader what perspective you feel that you are taking by adding your analysis, synthesis, or insight. If you want to share more on your specific expertise, consider updating your user page with additional details about your professional and academic background. Practitioner Academic Participant Observer
Contribution Type(s):
Selecting any of these choices expresses to to the reader whether you consider your contribution to be primarily academic, professional, or personal in nature, or a combination of these types. Analysis Synthesis Personal Insights Professional Insights

Keywords

Help others find your ASI by providing keywords or short phrases. Selecting the arrow or entering a few letters will show you keywords others have used to describe their contributions

Add Keywords or phrases (no special characters or punctuation)

ecosystem services

compensation

water quality

Provide a summary of the type/purpose of updates you have made. This summary is displayed on the "History" tab for the page and is not part of the page as it is viewed:

This is a minor edit Watch this page

Cancel

Edit ASI: ASI:Determining Fair Payment for Ecosystem Services

Navigation menu

Personal tools

Namespaces

Variants

Views

Actions

Search

Explore

Learn More

Advanced