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This paper explores water commons and its governance in China. Neither oriental despotism nor fragmented hydraulic state accurately describes water governance in China. Instead, a combined approach of Grand Union governance logic and polycentric policy-making analysis is proposed. The paper argues that the concept of the commons in China is dual-dimensional, with a vertical dimension of public authority and a horizontal dimension of sharing-in-common; that power structures have often been flexible, adaptive, polycentric and highly experimental; and that, correctly applied, this approach also strives to serve the common good, ensuring positive impacts for shared prosperity, while mitigating negative impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although essential to successful environmental governance, public participation has been sporadic and fragmented in China. Drawing on in-depth interviews conducted in the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, this paper explores how environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) have carried out 'civilian river chiefs' projects as novel approaches to water governance. We propose a framework of 'double embeddedness', within which ENGOs have built political and social legitimacy, reciprocity, and networks that enable their sustained participation in water governance. Our findings suggest that new patterns of state–community–non-governmental organization relationships are key to understanding public participation in China's future environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the correlations between Chinese banana farmers' perceptions of integrated water management technology (IWMT) and their adoption behaviours and examines the impact of IWMT adoption on farm performance. The results revealed that farmers' IWMT adoption correlates significantly with their perceptions of whether IWMT adoption can help reduce farm workload, fertilizer and water, the extent to which the technology is easier to operate, and the extent to which the technology can generate higher economic benefits than furrow irrigation technology. IWMT adoption significantly increases banana yields, gross revenue, net returns and irrigation frequency, but does not significantly affect irrigation expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews water pricing reform in China after 1980, including framework, process, forces and considerations. China collects a water resources fee, a water supply tariff for hydraulic engineering, an urban water supply tariff, a wastewater collection and treatment tariff, and a pollutant discharge fee. The reform has been an exploration process. In theory, a comprehensive, systematic and advanced policy and framework have been developed. However, in practice, the reforms fluctuate among economic, social and environmental targets; do not comply with the reform objectives; and are heavily affected by external social and economic factors rather than by internal factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the range of lake management organizations (LMOs) established in China and proposes management recommendations for different lake types and contexts. Based on functions, regional coverage and sectoral focus, nine LMO patterns are identified, ranging from existing agency approaches in which there is no specific lake focus or institutional responsibility to comprehensive and powerful lake basin authorities. LMO development in China faces many challenges, including a preoccupation with organizational form rather than function and objectives, duplication with existing agency functions, and insufficient lake basin management and trans-jurisdictional coordination. We therefore propose that LMOs should be tailored to specific situations and problems, drawing distinctions between plateau, urban, plain, inland and wetland lakes as well as other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water reallocation decision-making is a challenge faced by most river basins around the world. In this study, a system thinking framework was developed to structurally unfold the complex interactions of water reallocations with societal, economic and ecological subsystems in the Heihe River Basin in China. The results indicate that ecological degradations appeared much later than economic development. Slow-changing societal values and limited considerations of technological development and government regulations towards environmental protection contributed to the weak and untimely responses of water reallocations to ecological degradation. This framework can assist in strategic water reallocation decision-making in river basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and infrastructural development has led to growing concerns regarding the future of Central Asia's water resources. However, few attempts have been made to assess the impacts this will have on specific transboundary basins within the region. This article explores how the context of the BRI transcends its physical impacts within the Ili and Irtysh basins, creating a sanctioned discourse that forecloses the possibility of 'successful' negotiations at an official level. As such, pathways to transboundary water management that exist beyond the negotiations are shown to have greater plausibility and potential effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines why and how China's environmental vertical management reform has been carried out and how well it helps to improve the implementation of local policies. By applying the theoretical framework of 'dynamics, strategy, and capacities' in Hebei province as a case, the changes in the policy process have been fully revealed. The article concludes that the reform shows the character of selective centralization in decentralization, which facilitates the establishment of a degree of standardization in policy implementation. However, a new phenomenon of 'selective implementation' has been spotted which severely distorts the actual results of this reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a qualitative systematic review of English-language academic articles on approaches adopted by the Chinese government to overcome fragmentation and disconnection in water governance. We find that the Chinese government has deployed technical, institutional and discursive instruments, ranging from 'hard' to 'soft' ways, to improve connectivity between different administrative levels, functional agencies and territorially based units. Although these approaches are conducive to reconciling conflicts, boosting collaboration and bridging gaps in interjurisdictional, cross-level and cross-sectoral interactions, they also have unexpected implications for cost-effectiveness, practicality and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is anticipated to have wide-ranging impacts on the countries of Central Asia. This includes a significant impact to a complex and fragile water resources landscape, and the closely entwined economic, social, environmental and political context. Water resources considerations are currently not explicit in BRI policies or proposals, despite the vast variety of ways in which the initiative may interact with and influence these dynamics. This article presents an early examination of the key trade-offs and interdependencies across water management in the BRI and it includes recommendations to mitigate detrimental impact and promote sustainable delivery for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the livelihood problems following development-induced displacement and resettlement, this article selects 234 affected families of the Qianping Reservoir in China and builds a livelihood resilience inferred measurement model to assess and verify their livelihood resilience. The research shows that households that have a reasonable income structure or that resettled near their original residence have higher livelihood resilience. Moreover, the proportion of agricultural income and physical capital have the most significant impact on livelihood resilience compared with other socio-economic indicators. These findings can help individuals make better preparations in advance and guide governments to do well in assistance after resettlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mekong River is important for South-East Asia, where it is shared by six countries and serves 70 million people. Its sensitive ecology is essential for the region's well-being. Managing the river for economic development while protecting this ecology is challenging. This article investigates the institutions in place for governing the Mekong, as how they interact is significant for the region's future. Institutional and state discourses regarding the Mekong and its institutions are analyzed to examine the relationships between them and with the Mekong nations, and the effects they may have on the sustainable future of the Mekong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has emerged as one of the world's most active markets for public–private partnerships (PPP) in the water sector, while the pace of such development globally has slowed in recent years. This article investigates the dynamics of the development of PPP projects in the Chinese water sector through comparative case studies. Our findings suggest that the unwavering pursuit of PPPs as a policy instrument by the central government, water sector reforms and the effective implementation of local governments are among key factors driving the impressive growth of PPP projects in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has made substantial progress in transforming water governance to respond to water crises and to support rapid socio-economic development. We aim to critically and comprehensively analyze important innovations in managerial approaches, as well as new developments and associated challenges in water policies, by bringing together cutting-edge research and best practices on water resources management in contemporary China. The key lessons drawn from the transformation include improving relationships among government, market and civil society in terms of water governance, as well as introducing innovative solutions to water challenges according to the specific contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is developing a complicated three-aspect water use control system. Spatially, the system includes river basin, province, prefecture, county, permit, and individual users; temporally, it consists of annual average and annual/seasonal frameworks; and in terms of management objectives, it combines abstraction, consumption and use. Technical consistency is required in volume, space, timing, management and reliability. Application in the Yellow River basin reveals consistency problems in targets, indicators, timings and control periods. We suggest improving the system by addressing temporal and spatial inconsistencies, reforming management systems and procedures, strengthening research, and developing a water accounting system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban water governance in China has received increasing academic and policy attention owing to frequent urban water crises. Drawing on documentary analysis and field investigations, this article analyzes the administrative system and recent policy developments vis-à-vis urban water governance in China. It demonstrates the main problems of, and mechanisms for, interdepartmental and interjurisdictional coordination, and reviews new policy instruments addressing urgent urban water governance issues. The article argues that coordination mechanisms such as the river chief system are promising but their long-term effectiveness remains to be clarified, and more attention should be paid to policy enforcement and market mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water rights trading and water-saving management contracts are important market-oriented means to promote water conservation. This study integrates them together for a joint analysis, and puts forward a new way to optimize market-oriented water-saving services in China. This is to establish a water-saving management contracts-based water rights trading mechanism, that is, to allow trading of water saved under a management contract. We have two main findings. First, water-saving management contracts and water rights trading are highly compatible and interrelated. Second, water rights trading can be integrated into the implementation of water-saving management contracts and thereby promote their application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a growing interest in understanding the enabling conditions for the adoption of irrigation pricing reform worldwide. We enrich the literature on policy diffusion by comparing the effects of different mobilization patterns in northern China, showing how differences in incentives have hampered or fostered the spread of a collect-and-refund policy in Taocheng District. We find that the mobilization pattern of water authorities, with limited fiscal resources and weak political influence, provided little incentive for local authorities to adopt the policy. By contrast, the mobilization pattern of government chiefs mobilized local authorities to spread the policy across larger scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The applications of payments for ecosystem/environmental services (PES) are diverse. However, the changing characteristics of these applications in different contexts have not been adequately elucidated. This article provides a conceptual analysis of China's water eco-compensation mechanism (ECM), a notion reported in the PES literature, through the lens of public–private, state–market, central–local and interjurisdictional relationships. It argues that the water ECM is essentially a state-centric utilitarian approach to mediating regional conflicts and inequalities. The Chinese practices of water ECM indicate an alternative approach to incentive-based conservation, highlighting the potential of integrating government-led instruments with market-oriented mechanisms in the development of a PES framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What hurdles lie in the path of the Chinese government's plan to introduce water trading? This question is addressed by reviewing lessons from establishing water markets in Australia, and then assessing an early scheme to create them in China. In Australia, markets in water opened up over several decades, with gradual recognition of what was needed to avoid negative third-party effects. Trading there is now crucial: in drought years nearly half the water used by farmers is traded. Australia's experience throws light on the key requirements for a water market – though markets in China will, naturally, be fashioned to suit its own conditions. The pilot work by Tsinghua University in Gansu Province has led the way in having trading at the local level in China. Compared with Australia, however, rights are not as tradeable, metering is poor, and plots are tiny. Trading has mostly been by water user associations, made up of several hundred farmers, but this dampens the incentives that make markets effective – and can upset individual farmers. Possible ways past these hurdles are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses web-based information to explore the spatial and temporal trends of reported city flood events for all mainland China cities from 1984 to 2015. Panel data were compiled on flooding (or the lack thereof) within China's cities for every year in this period, and the relationship between the annual number of cities with reported flood events and possible influencing variables was analyzed. Few cities experienced flood events before 2001, but this situation then increased dramatically after 2010. In 2015, approximately 60% of China's cities experienced a storm-flood event, which is three times as many as the government estimated in 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes why China's national groundwater policy is implemented in a fragmented way. The question is addressed through a comparative case-study analysis of groundwater management in north-west China. The analysis focuses on the institutional context in which local government agencies responsible for groundwater management operate. It was found that direct pressure from the central government promotes policy implementation. Yet, the distribution of surface and groundwater management responsibilities over different government agencies also influences the importance attached to groundwater regulation. In a conjunctive-use setting the integration of surface water and groundwater management facilitates effective groundwater regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental security, broadly defined as integrated analysis of the social and ecological aspects of environmental problems, is gaining influence as nations begin to expand beyond traditional conceptions of national security. The Mekong River basin provides an instructive example of challenges to the evolution of environmental security in Asia. An overview of six main security stressors -- ecosystem degradation, food, energy, water, development, and climate change -- reveals the need for transboundary governance reform. China may be in a position to undertake new leadership in the Mekong, which could result in more cooperation, but only if that leadership embraces more deliberative and inclusive behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the dynamics of conflict and cooperation between sub-national administrative jurisdictions in China, and assesses the implications of these dynamics for its transboundary waterways. The article argues that domestic hydropolitics can rival the international variety in both complexity and contentiousness. This is especially true in China because of its marked fiscal-economic decentralization, which creates considerable interjurisdictional conflict. These internal politics may help explain tension between China and its neighbours over transboundary rivers, and future research should attempt to more fully link the domestic and international arenas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China emerges as a regional and global power and its interest in utilizing the transboundary water resources within its borders continues to grow, a better understanding of China's policies and practices towards transboundary waters is of critical importance. Scholars have explored various approaches to the study of this subject, including the legal perspective, the socioeconomic-environmental lens, the foreign relations/neighbourhood diplomacy angle, and international relations theories. Each approach has its merits and weaknesses. On the basis of all the existing analytical studies, this article proposes a process-based framework to study China's policies towards transboundary water management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, China’s national government initiated a Sponge City Programme to address its urban flood issues. A sponge city is a city built around the concept of managing water in an ecologically sustainable way. The intention is to improve urban resilience through rainwater capture, storage and use. This article applies a four-mode governance framework to analyze the programme. It identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the programme implementation and provides recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China’s rapid urbanization in areas prone to flood or drought events can be seen as a double-edged sword. Urbanization enlarges the population exposed to these hazards, but the resulting socio-economic development also helps build resilience. This article quantifies flood occurrence, drought severity, and related resilience in 81 cities in Mainland China. The extent of flood exposure was notable, both in absolute terms as well as in relation to the drought-prone urban population. China needs to integrate urban flood/drought policy making with sustainable urbanization policy making to best contribute to minimizing flood and drought risks in its cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resources are the basis for the sustainable development of China. However, the country is currently facing alarming water-related problems associated with its fast economic development and climate change. This editorial introduces briefly the status of its water resources research at the national level and the researcher level. It also introduces the research reported in this thematic issue to highlight its role in addressing flood and water-scarcity issues, improving water management in inland plains and supporting the sustainable development of the country. Finally, some further recommendations for improving water resources research in China are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor water resource management is an important factor in soil salinization in arid areas. In this study, the status of soil salinization and its controlling factors are summarized for the Yinchuan Plain, North-West China. The conjunctive use of surface water diverted from the Yellow River and groundwater abstracted from a shallow aquifer is proposed to alleviate soil salinization in the plain. Scenarios are designed and simulated to determine the optimal proportions at which groundwater should be exploited for irrigation in the three cities of the plain. Policies and suggestions regarding sustainable water resources and soil salinization research in the plain are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1949, land compensation and allocation standards for rural resettlers in China have gradually improved. However, the land allocation standards that local governments promised or that were stipulated by policy were not met in practice. The factors that led to implementation gaps included the development outlook of the central government, the will of resettlers, the execution ability of the local government and the attitudes of residents in the host villages. To meet land-based resettlement goals, the government should raise the land compensation standards, and residents in the host village should share the benefits of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a systematic analysis of water management and allocation on the scale of a river basin, considering climate impacts and stakeholder networks in the Dongjiang River basin in South China. Specific approaches are integrated to explore various subtopics. Findings indicate a slight increase of precipitation in the basin and strong fluctuations in this century due to climate extremes, which may lead to seasonal or quality-related water shortages. It is highlighted that alternative options for holistic water management are needed in the basin, and participatory water allocation mechanisms and establishment of a basin-wide management framework could be helpful. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Difficulties in monitoring groundwater extraction cause groundwater regulations to fail worldwide. In two counties in north-west China local water authorities have installed smart card machines to monitor and regulate farmers’ groundwater use. Data from a household survey and in-depth interviews are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the different regulatory institutions implemented with help of the smart card machines. In the given context, groundwater quota is more effective in curbing farmers’ groundwater use than the tiered groundwater pricing. The study shows that the usefulness of smart card machines depends on their embedding in the societal context and related regulatory institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the planning, implementation and effects of resettlement for the Danjiangkou Dam Heightening Project. In the process of planning, the local government took full account of the long-term development of resettlers. In the process of implementation, resettlers could obtain compensation, subsidy, follow-up support and counterpart support. Their living and production conditions greatly improved after resettlement. The following factors contributed to successful resettlement: a development model of industry supporting agriculture; commitment of the central government; adequate funding; sound organizational systems; efficient government management mechanisms at various levels; and the favourable geographical location of the resettlement site. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In China, water conflicts have been traditionally framed as the external costs of economic development and tackled with technocratic measures. This study examines water conflicts through the lens of water diversion, water allocation and water functional zoning. It reframes water conflicts as a result of coordination problems nested in complex inter-jurisdictional interactions. With a game-theoretic illustration, it identifies that individual and group heterogeneities are two challenges to effective coordination. It argues that China’s state-centric water institutions are tailored to optimize overall social utilities, yet they constrain coordination due to insufficient costs and benefits redistribution mechanisms at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Drawing on empirical evidence from a case study conducted in the upper Mekong catchment, this article assesses the performance of the Erhai Lake Basin Management Commission, an organization mandated to control pollution and integrate the diverse interests of those individuals and communities living and working near Erhai Lake. Clear local rules, strong enforcement, practical protocols, clear responsibilities and extensive mobilization have been crucial to the success of this small river basin organization. However, the insufficient involvement of numerous important stakeholders in decision-making processes has decreased the commission’s capacity to address water issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews water policy in China since 1980. Four periods are considered: the 1980s, 1990–1998, 1998–2009 and after 2009. Based on an introduction of the broader context and the main water issues in each period, the key water policies are discussed and analyzed. Since 1980, China's water policies have experienced dramatic changes: trying to improve benefits in the face of criticism for low efficiency in the 1980s; allocating large investments acknowledging the important role of water for the economy of the country during 1990–1998; redefining the water–human relationship during 1998–2008; and providing the strictest water resources management as the definitive solution after 2009. The article presents a full range of policy solutions from infrastructure construction to non-structural instruments and from water resources development to water resources management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Understanding perceptions of resource users and influencing factors that affect these perceptions has significant value in evaluating the success or failure of IWRM (integrated water resource management) reforms. This article explores villagers' experiences of China's recent powerful enforcement of IWRM and the locally perceived impacts through three in-depth case studies. Results show that neither villagers' perspectives nor the implementation processes and outcomes are monolithic. Political trust plays a key role in shaping villagers' perspectives and responses towards IWRM, which is constantly shaped and reshaped by understanding, experiences and negotiation among different stakeholders in the embedded physical, socio-economic and political environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address serious wastewater challenges, the government of China is investing in the rapid building of new treatment plants across the country. However, current practice often favours both cost- and energy-inefficient designs and implementation, especially in smaller cities and towns. Combining a full life cycle costing (LCC) approach with financing innovations and the identification and implementation of new technologies can reduce such inefficiencies by 50% or more. One general and two wastewater-specific case studies of new approaches to efficient infrastructure design are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]