Water Quality in China

Braden Rosenberg, John Gilbert, Kristen Underwood29 October 2014, GEO 352

“The pursuit of economic growth has been the priority overshadowing the vital issuesof water resources and ecological balance” 5.

China’s GDP has increased 10% each year since the 1970s. 7

Outline

• Water Resources of China• Brief History of Water Law &

Policy• Project Profiles– Eutrophication– Mining– South-to-North Water Diversion

Water Resources of China• 7 % of world’s freshwater resources, but ~ 20% of world’s

population 1

• Water usage has increased 5-fold since 1949 (People’s Republic of China est.) 1

• 4/5 of water concentrated in the south 1

• Population densities in the north and east 1

http://www.nature.com/news/society-realizing-china-s-urban-dream-1.15151

Nature, 2014 vol 511, issue 7511

Water Resources

• 300 million people in China affected by water shortages 4

http://www.china-profile.com/data/fig_renewable-water-resources_1.htm

Per capita Renewable Water Resources in the 25 Most Populous Countries(x 1000 cubic meters per year)

Nature, 2014 vol 511, issue 7511

Water Demand – major sectorsAgriculture (North Plain)IndustryDomestic (urban centers)

Water DemandIssues:Overpumping of Groundwater• e.g., North China Plain produces ½ of the country’s

grain; groundwater aquifers have been overpumped leading to water table decline on the order of hundreds of meters 6

Diversion/Impoundment of water• e.g., 22,104 dams over the height of 15 m (2000)

Ditching/ Wetland Loss

Water QualityNatural contaminants

Arsenic– 26 M people

Fluorides– Dental fluorosis– Skeletal fluorosis– 25 M people

Nature, 2014 vol 511, issue 7511

Water Quality

Human contaminants• Agricultural runoff (fertilizers, pesticides, livestock

waste)– algal blooms, eutrophication• Sediment• Septic waste• Heavy metals (e.g., As, Mn)• Radioactive wastes (thorium)• Petrochemicals

70% of China’s surface waters are polluted 7

Water Regulations – abbreviated timeline 9

• Environmental Protection Law • Est. 1989; broad environmental policy• Establishes “Polluter pays” principle• Environmental protection as a right and obligation for all citizens

• Law on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution• est. 1984, amended 1996• Implementation lacking, few incentives for enforcement• State council & local governments have implemented regulations to address water pollution

• LPCWP amended 2008• Stronger penalties for violators, • created discharge permit program• State / local governments continue to enforce local regulations

• 1998 - State Environmental Protection Agency est. as a ministry level agency, following a year of devastating floods

• 2008 – SEPA replaced by Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP)

Water Law & PolicyGovernment Context 9

• Unitary system –local level powers are only those delegated by the central government

• Post-Mao reforms have eroded central government power over local-level subordinate bureaus

Effect on Regulation 9

• Multi-tiered system of regulation / enforcement

• Ministry for Environmental Protection (MEP) directs national efforts, while subordinate bureaus at the provincial, city, county, district, and town levels implement the national statutes and regulation

• Local environmental protection bureaus report to regional governments

• Regional governments receive tax revenues from industry (financial incentive to protect industry)

• Regulated industry often has direct personal ties to regional government

Water Law & PolicyGovernment Context 9

• Parliamentary system, with President and Prime Minister

• Civil law society – judges do not have authority to make or interpret the law

• Communist Party has a parallel government structure

Effect on Regulation 9

• Prime Minister oversees MEP• Nontransparent decision-

making; may limit public engagement

Examples of Recent Progress• 2007 to present – EPA – China Environmental Law Initiative

– US EPA collaborating with Chinese MEP to establish and develop various environmental protection programs

• 2013 – National Standards on Environmental Protection in effect– e.g., air quality monitoring standards

• Feb 2014 – MEP announces plan to invest $US 320B to address water pollution 7

• Sep 2014 – World Bank approves loans totaling more than $US 500M to improve water and wastewater infrastructure in three rural and suburban

regions of China 8

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/lgcolor/cncolor.htm

Project Profiles

North-South Transfer

MiningEutrophication

106:16:1C:N:P

Credit: Desert Research Institute

Eutrophication effects:-Recreation-Fisheries-Microcystin-Coastal “dead-zones”

Steady decrease in lake size throughout record

24,923 km2

50% of total area!

Water Quality… and Rare Earth Control in the PRC

Bayan Obo Mining DistrictInner Mongolia

Batou City, Inner MongoliaPop. ~2 million

Legacy Mines

http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2016/finalwebsite/problems/disposal.html

44.8 billion m3/year4,350km (~2,750miles)$60 billion

3,000 to 5,000m peaks

~500,000 people to be relocated340,000 already moved

15% decrease in Yangtze water since 1970

Diversion = “5% of Yangtze flow”

Data on flow from 1950-1990’s

Massively increased adjacent river engineering:-Build more dams to supplement rivers that are being diverted-Construct barriers to prevent pollution of clean reservoirs and rivers

Water Quality

References1 NY Times, 28Sept 2007, Under China's Booming North, the Future Is Drying Up”, http://

query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE5D8143AF93BA1575AC0A9619C8B63&pagewanted=12 Gleick, Peter H., 2009, China and Water. Chapter 5 in The World’s Water, Pacific Institute, http://www2.worldwater.org/data20082009/ch05.pdf3 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/world/asia/china-takes-loss-to-get-ahead-in-desalination-industry.html?pagewanted=all&_r=04 Tao & Zin, 30 July 2014, Public health: A sustainable plan for China's drinking water. Nature 511 (7511). http://

www.nature.com/news/public-health-a-sustainable-plan-for-china-s-drinking-water-1.156195 China Daily. 2007a. Before We Run Dry. February 28, 2007. http://www.mwr.gov.cn/english1/20070228/82467.asp6 Griffiths, D. 2006. Drought Worsens China Water Woes. British Broadcasting Corporation News (BBC), Beijing. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4754519.stm7 Toronto Star, 12 May 2004, China wakes up to its water crisis. http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/05/12/china_wakes_up_to_its_water_crisis.html8 The World Bank, 12 Sept 2014, World Bank to Help Improve Environmental Services in China. http://

www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/09/25/world-bank-to-help-improve-environmental-services-in-china9 Winalski, Dawn, 2009, Cleaner Water in China? The Implications of the Amendments to China’s Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution. J. ENVTL. LAW

AND LITIGATION [Vol. 24, 181], http://law.uoregon.edu/org/jell/docs/232/Winalski.pdf