Water Stress in China: Shortage and Pollution

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Water Stress in China Shortage and Pollution
CASS-Nottingham Environmental Infrastructure
Workshop, 22 24 June, 2005

• CHEN Ying
• Research Centre for Sustainable Development
  (RCSD)
• Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

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Content

• Natural Endowment of Water Resources
• Increasing Demand for Water Resources Driven by
  Industrialization and Urbanization
• Unsustainable Water Utilization
• Overall Objectives of Water Management
• Potential Options to Promote Sustainable
  Development by Improving Water Management

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1. Natural Endowment of Water Resources
m3
Total volume 2.8Trillion m3 Per capita 2200 m3
¼ of world average level
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1.2 Uneven Distribution of Rainfall
Dry/Wet Regions
Annual rainfall
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1.3 Frequent Occurrence of Natural Disasters

• Drought
• Main natural disaster in northern China
• Even in southern China, some regions may be
  suffered from drought in the driest months

Hunan Province
Hainan Province
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• Flood
• In most areas, precipitation of the four wettest
  months take up about 70 of the annual total,
  often resulting in flooding.

2005-6-11
1999
2001
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1.4 Severe Soil Erosion

• Soil Erosion takes place in an area of
  3.56million km2, about 37 of the total land area
  in China
• Annual quantity of soil eroded reaches 5 billion
  tons.

Upstream of Yellow River across Hexi Corridor
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2.1 Water Use Pattern
(64)
Total 532 billion m3 Water Use in 2003
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2. Increasing Demand for Water Resources Driven
by Industrialization and Urbanization

• During 1952-2002
• GDP increased 40 times, GDP per capita up 17
  times
• Water use increased 4.3 times, water use per
  capita 1.3 times higher
• Water demand projections for 2020

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3. Unsustainable Water Utilization

• Low efficiency of water use
• Agricultural irrigation water use co- efficiency
  is only 0.4-0.5 in China comparing to 0.7-0.8 in
  developed countries
• Industry 24.1 m3 water /1000 RMB industrial
  production, about 5-10 times that in developed
  countries water consumption per ton steel
  produced 4-6 times higher than developed countries

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3. Unsustainable Water Utilization

• Water pollution

Water quality monitoring for 7 rivers in 2004
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3. Unsustainable Water Utilization

• Waste of water
• Leakage of water supply pipes can be 5-10, some
  up to 15-17
• Over-extracted underground water
• Cones of depressions
• Dry wells
• Seawater intrusions
• Land subsidence

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4. Overall Objectives of Water Management

• To guarantee access to safety drinking water for
  human health
• Water supply under threats in urban area
• 360 million people in rural area lack of safety
  drinking water, 190 million people suffer from
  drinking water harmful to their health

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4. Overall Objectives of Water Management

• To mitigate disasters of drought and flood
• To guarantee food security
• To promote economic development
• To protect ecological environment
• Yellow River going dry

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5. Potential Options to Promote Sustainable
Development by Improving Water Management

• Water transfer?
• Waste water treatment?
• Water saving?

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5.1 South-to-North Water Transfer Project

• Three routes (east, middle and west) connecting
  four major rivers to form a new pattern of water
  resource allocation (4 latitudinal and 3
  longitudinal)
• 44.8 billion m3 by 2050, equivalent to the
  annual usable quantity of water resources of
  Yellow River
• 13.4 billion m3 for Phase I to relieve water
  shortage in Beijing, Tianjin and cities in
  eastern Shandong Province
• High costs lead to high price

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5.2 Waste Water Treatment

• Among water pollution control projects of main
  river basins in the tenth Five-year-plan, only
  32 finished, 28 under construction and 40 not
  started
• Some newly built waste water treatment facilities
  rarely operate

Invested 79 million, Upstream of Three Gorges
Wei River
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5.2 Waste Water Treatment

• Despite some successful pilot projects, the use
  of treated water from wastewater treatment plant
  has been very limited

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Some Key Elements of Efficient Water Management
System

• Public awareness
• Legislation
• Technology
• Economic incentives
• Integrated management

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Water Pricing System Reform

• Beijing planned to introduce progressive water
  prices but finally delayed to implement

Public Hearing
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Integrated management

• Coordinating interests between
• Agricultural irrigation, industrial and
  residential uses
• Upstream and downstream
• Surface and underground water
• Water quantity and water quality
• Seven River Commissions, as bureaus of the
  Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) were sep up to
  take this responsibility.

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Thank you!
Email cycass_at_163bj.com