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

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(Created page with "{{Case Study |Geolocation=32.6, 111.6 |Population=11.98 |Area=95000 |Climate=temperate |Land Use=agricultural- cropland and pasture, industrial use, urban |Water Use=Agricultu...")
 
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|Land Use=agricultural- cropland and pasture, industrial use, urban
 
|Land Use=agricultural- cropland and pasture, industrial use, urban
 
|Water Use=Agriculture or Irrigation, Domestic/Urban Supply, Industry - consumptive use, Industry - non-consumptive use
 
|Water Use=Agriculture or Irrigation, Domestic/Urban Supply, Industry - consumptive use, Industry - non-consumptive use
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|REP Framework===Governance Framework==
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To understand the political framework of the topic of interest, we need to first take a look at the political framework of Chinese government system, as shown in Figure 3. The top administrative organization is called the State Council, followed hierarchically by provinces and Municipalities, cities, counties or districts, and villages. There are also Autonomous Regions (e.g. Xinjiang and Tibet), as well as Special Administrative Regions (e.g. Hongkong and Macau), which are at the same level as provinces.  Ministries, such as Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Water Resources, etc., are executive bodies under the direct lead of the State Council. Departments of similar functions (environmental protection, water resources, etc.) take responsibility at the provincial, city, and even district level; they report to their superior organizations up to ministry level.
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As an inter-basin water transfer project, SNWDP involves a number of provinces and municipalities. To coordinate among different provinces, an institutional body – the South-to-North Water Diversion Project Office (SNWD Project Office) was created in 1979 to oversee the planning, design, construction and operation of the SNWDP. A committee led by the Vice Prime Minister sets the goals and policy of the Project Office. The board members of the committee include all relevant ministers, provincial governors, and municipality mayors. There are also sub-offices at the provincial and municipal levels in charge of the construction projects within their jurisdictional boundaries.  In short, the central government endorses SNWD Project Office to perform a coordinative role in all issues related to the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.
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==Water Quality Related Regulation==
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To assure good water quality the SNWD Project Office created the Reservoir, the Water Pollution Control & Soil and Water Conservation Plan (hereafter referred to as “the Plan”) in 2005. According to the Plan, the Danjiangkou Reservoir and main Han River should achieve water quality of Category II,  and the tributaries flowing into Danjiangkou Reservoir should be better than Category III4. Eighteen control zones were created at the watershed of the reservoir (Figure 4). These control zones span across Shaanxi, Hubei and Henan Provinces. Three of the eighteen zones are within 5km of the Reservoir peripheral and are therefore defined as the Water Source Area Security Zone. Three zones on the far left side are the sources of Han River.  The soil and water conservation in these zones are essential to the water quality in the Reservoir, so together these zones are defined as the Ecological Conservation Zone. The other eleven zones in between are collectively called the Water Quality Impact Zone (Figure 5). The Plan computed the environmental capacity of each control zone, based on the water quality condition of the river stretch in that particular zone. By comparing the current pollution loadings with the environmental capacity of the control zones, the Plan computed the amount of loading reduction needed for each control zone.
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The Water Source Area (WSA) of the Middle Route spans across Hubei, Shaanxi and Henan province. The Water Receiving Area (WRA) includes Beijing, Tianjin, Henan and Hebei provinces (Figure 2). Henan province is both WSA and WRA.
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Table 1 summarizes the economic indicators for the provinces and municipalities of the water source area and water receiving area. As the table shows, the GDP per person of Beijing and Tianjin are about three times of the other provinces. It is obvious from the figure that water source area is generally much poorer than the water receiving area.
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Tables 1a and 1b:  Economic facts of the Water Source Area (WSA) and Water Receiving Area (WRA) provinces/municipalities source'''5'''
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Table 1a WRA
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{| class="wikitable sortable"
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|-
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! Province/Municipality !! GDP (billion $)!! GDP per capita ($) !! Population (million)
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|-
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| Beijing || 201 || 20,841 || 17.2
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|-
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| Tianjin || 133 || 19,284 || 12.3
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|-
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| Hebei || 287 || 7,276 || 70.5
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|}
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Table 1b WSA
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{| class="wikitable sortable"
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|-
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! Province/Municipality !! GDP (billion $)!! GDP per capita ($) !! Population (million)
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|-
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| Henan (also WRA) || 333 || 6,402 || 92.9
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|-
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| Hubei || 225 || 7,009 || 57.2
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|-
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| Shaan xi || 148 || 7.187 || 36.7
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|}
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As mentioned previously, the Plan guides much of the water quality control efforts for the Danjiangkou Reservoir.  Based on loading reduction targets for each control zone, the Plan includes several lists of projects to invest in, which include wastewater treatment plants, landfills, eco-agriculture, soil and water conservation, wetland protection, etc. Eight-hundred and seventy-eight projects were proposed to be carried out in the short term, which will cost 6.989 billion CNY (Chinese Yuan). Another 1,234 projects were planned for the long term, which would cost 12.444 billion CNY. The breakdown of the costs of the projects is shown in Table 2.
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The amount of work needed to be done is enormous, but it is not clear in the Plan who will bear the cost of these projects. Up to now, there is no clear-cut long term mechanism in place to finance those projects. If there financing instrument for the planned water quality control projects, the burden on local economy and local people will be unbearable. For example, according to Dong et al.6, Shiyan City, one of the cities in the Water Source Area Security Zone in Hubei Province, has shut down a large number of polluting enterprises, including 3,622 paper mills. It has spent 5.34 billion CNY on water quality control projects, and its financial revenue has reduced by 0.65 billion CNY due to the closure of the pollution-cause enterprises.
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Table 2 Breakdown of water quality control projects and their costs '''4'''
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{| class="wikitable sortable"
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|-
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!  Zone Category !! Project Category !! Number of Projects!! Cost (10,000 CNY)
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|-
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| rowspan="4" | Water Source Area Security Zone || Sub-watershed protection || 313 || 142183
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|-
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|  || Wastewater treatment plants || 12 || 94500
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|-
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| || Landfill || 8 || 19400
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|-
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| || Solid waste collection and treatment systems || 5 || 38000
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|-
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| || Industrial point source || 28 || 52490
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|-
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| || Eco-agriculture || 4 || 19000
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|-
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| || Wetland protection and recovery || 2 || 2000
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|-
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| || Demo projects || 5 || 1000
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|-
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| || Sub-total || 377 ||  368573
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|}
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ADD THE REST OF TABLE 2!
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Revision as of 07:29, 5 June 2012

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Case Description
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Geolocation: 32° 36' 0", 111° 35' 60"
Total Population 11.9811,980,000 millionmillion
Total Area 9500095,000 km²
36,679.5 mi²
km2
Climate Descriptors temperate
Predominent Land Use Descriptors agricultural- cropland and pasture, industrial use, urban
Important Uses of Water Agriculture or Irrigation, Domestic/Urban Supply, Industry - consumptive use, Industry - non-consumptive use

Summary

Natural, Historic, Economic, Regional, and Political Framework

Governance Framework

To understand the political framework of the topic of interest, we need to first take a look at the political framework of Chinese government system, as shown in Figure 3. The top administrative organization is called the State Council, followed hierarchically by provinces and Municipalities, cities, counties or districts, and villages. There are also Autonomous Regions (e.g. Xinjiang and Tibet), as well as Special Administrative Regions (e.g. Hongkong and Macau), which are at the same level as provinces. Ministries, such as Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Water Resources, etc., are executive bodies under the direct lead of the State Council. Departments of similar functions (environmental protection, water resources, etc.) take responsibility at the provincial, city, and even district level; they report to their superior organizations up to ministry level.

As an inter-basin water transfer project, SNWDP involves a number of provinces and municipalities. To coordinate among different provinces, an institutional body – the South-to-North Water Diversion Project Office (SNWD Project Office) was created in 1979 to oversee the planning, design, construction and operation of the SNWDP. A committee led by the Vice Prime Minister sets the goals and policy of the Project Office. The board members of the committee include all relevant ministers, provincial governors, and municipality mayors. There are also sub-offices at the provincial and municipal levels in charge of the construction projects within their jurisdictional boundaries. In short, the central government endorses SNWD Project Office to perform a coordinative role in all issues related to the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.


Water Quality Related Regulation

To assure good water quality the SNWD Project Office created the Reservoir, the Water Pollution Control & Soil and Water Conservation Plan (hereafter referred to as “the Plan”) in 2005. According to the Plan, the Danjiangkou Reservoir and main Han River should achieve water quality of Category II, and the tributaries flowing into Danjiangkou Reservoir should be better than Category III4. Eighteen control zones were created at the watershed of the reservoir (Figure 4). These control zones span across Shaanxi, Hubei and Henan Provinces. Three of the eighteen zones are within 5km of the Reservoir peripheral and are therefore defined as the Water Source Area Security Zone. Three zones on the far left side are the sources of Han River. The soil and water conservation in these zones are essential to the water quality in the Reservoir, so together these zones are defined as the Ecological Conservation Zone. The other eleven zones in between are collectively called the Water Quality Impact Zone (Figure 5). The Plan computed the environmental capacity of each control zone, based on the water quality condition of the river stretch in that particular zone. By comparing the current pollution loadings with the environmental capacity of the control zones, the Plan computed the amount of loading reduction needed for each control zone.

The Water Source Area (WSA) of the Middle Route spans across Hubei, Shaanxi and Henan province. The Water Receiving Area (WRA) includes Beijing, Tianjin, Henan and Hebei provinces (Figure 2). Henan province is both WSA and WRA.

Table 1 summarizes the economic indicators for the provinces and municipalities of the water source area and water receiving area. As the table shows, the GDP per person of Beijing and Tianjin are about three times of the other provinces. It is obvious from the figure that water source area is generally much poorer than the water receiving area.


Tables 1a and 1b: Economic facts of the Water Source Area (WSA) and Water Receiving Area (WRA) provinces/municipalities source5 Table 1a WRA {



Analysis, Synthesis, and Insight

What is an ASI?

Individuals may add their own Analysis, Synthesis, and Insight (ASI) to a case. ASI sub-articles are protected, so that each contributor retains authorship and control of their own content. Edit the case to add your own ASI.

Learn more

ASI:Alternative Solutions to the Water Demand of Northern China

Concerning the ultimate problem of imbalance water demand distribution in the Northern and Southern China, scholars suggest implementations that will further consider China's water sustainability other than water diversion.(read the full article... )

Contributed by: Samuel Hsiao (last edit: 1 August 2013)



ASI:Determining Fair Payment for Ecosystem Services

Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), a voluntary exchange of a defined environmental service for a fee, has been previously implemented in China there is no consensus on criteria for fair compensation. Planned water quality control actions require capital investments and restrict development options for the water source area. For this reason, the receiving area is expected to compensate the source area for their conservation efforts. How should PES payments be determined?(read the full article... )

Contributed by: Margaret Garcia (last edit: 19 March 2013)