Water Quality Control of the South-to-North Water Diversion (SNWD) Middle Route Project (MRP)
| 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 |
Contents
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
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Issues and Stakeholders
Major Issue: how to achieve water quality standard required by the Water Pollution Control & Soil and Water Conservation Plan of Danjiangkou Reservoir and Upstream in an equitable way?
NSPD: "Water Quality (quality for a given purpose, quality from the viewpoint of a stakeholder)" is not in the list of possible values (Water Quantity, Water Quality, Ecosystems, Governance, Assets, Values and Norms) for this property., "Ecosystems (ecosystem services, biodiversity, ecological communities, environmental considerations)" is not in the list of possible values (Water Quantity, Water Quality, Ecosystems, Governance, Assets, Values and Norms) for this property., "Governance (institutions, entities, legal frameworks)" is not in the list of possible values (Water Quantity, Water Quality, Ecosystems, Governance, Assets, Values and Norms) for this property.
Stakeholder Types: Federated state/territorial/provincial government
• SNWD Project Office (ministerial level government) • Water Source Area governments (provincial governments) o Henan Province (河南省) o Hubei Province (湖北省) o Shaanxi Province (陕西省)
• Water Receiving Area governments (municipal and provincial governments) o Beijing Municipality (北京市) o Tianjin Municipality (天津市) o Henan Province (河南省)
o Hebei Province (河北省)What will be the impact of SNWDP on water quantity, water quality and ecosystem of middle and downstream of Hanjiang River?
NSPD: "Water Quantity (allocation, competitive use, climate influence/uncertainty)" is not in the list of possible values (Water Quantity, Water Quality, Ecosystems, Governance, Assets, Values and Norms) for this property., "Water Quality (quality for a given purpose, quality from the viewpoint of a stakeholder)" is not in the list of possible values (Water Quantity, Water Quality, Ecosystems, Governance, Assets, Values and Norms) for this property., "Ecosystems (ecosystem services, biodiversity, ecological communities, environmental considerations)" is not in the list of possible values (Water Quantity, Water Quality, Ecosystems, Governance, Assets, Values and Norms) for this property.
Stakeholder Types: Federated state/territorial/provincial government, Non-legislative governmental agency, Environmental interest, Community or organized citizens
• SNWD Project Office (ministerial level government) • Ministry of Environmental Protection • Ministry of Water Resources • Yangtze River Water Resources Committee • Water Receiving Area
• Cities along the middle and downstream of Hanjiang RiverHow to allocate the distributed water among the water receiving area and different water use sectors?
Stakeholder Types: Federated state/territorial/provincial government, Non-legislative governmental agency, Industry/Corporate Interest, Community or organized citizens
• SNWD Project Office (ministerial level government) • Beijing Municipality (municipal government) • Tianjin Municipality (municipal government) • Hebei Province (provincial government)
• Henan Province (provincial government)Possible transmission of water-borne diseases from Yangtze River Basin to the other river basins in the north
NSPD: "Water Quality (quality for a given purpose, quality from the viewpoint of a stakeholder)" is not in the list of possible values (Water Quantity, Water Quality, Ecosystems, Governance, Assets, Values and Norms) for this property., "Assets (specific human or economic assets)" is not in the list of possible values (Water Quantity, Water Quality, Ecosystems, Governance, Assets, Values and Norms) for this property., "Values and Norms (social value or cultural norm)" is not in the list of possible values (Water Quantity, Water Quality, Ecosystems, Governance, Assets, Values and Norms) for this property.
Stakeholder Types: Federated state/territorial/provincial government, Development/humanitarian interest, Community or organized citizens
• Ministry of Health • SNWD Project Office (ministerial level government) • Yangtze River Water Resources Committee • Yellow River Water Resources Committee • Hai River Water Resources Committee
• Huai River Water Resources Committee
Analysis, Synthesis, and Insight
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 moreASI: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)
