Managing water resources for sustainable development: the case of integrated river basin management in China

摘要

The emerging water crisis in China shows that the current institutional frameworks and policiesnwith regard to water resources management are incapable of achieving an effective andnsatisfactory situation that includes Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM). This papernanalyses this framework and related policies, examines their deficiencies in relation to all waternstress problems and explores alternatives focusing on river basins. Water resources managementnreforms in modern China are reviewed and the main problems involved in transforming thencurrent river management system into an IRBM-based system are analysed. The Huai River basinnis used as an example of current river basin management, with quantitative data serving to shownthe scale and scope of the problems in the country as a whole. The institutional reforms requirednare discussed and a conceptual institutional framework is proposed to facilitate thenimplementation of IRBM in China. In particular, the roles, power and responsibilities of River BasinnCommissions (RBCs) should be legally strengthened; the functions of supervising, decision-makingnand execution should be separated; and cross-sectoral legislation, institutional coordination andnpublic participation at all levels should be promoted.