Water Resources Management of the People’s Republic of China: Framework, Reform and Implementation

This book explores water resources management issues in China and possible solutions. It analyzes a wide range of general and specific topics, providing case studies and a balanced review of the past and present situation as well as future developments. The book begins with a general introduction and an overview of hydrology, water resources, and development issues in China. It then presents a management framework, including a management system, management institutions, river basin management, water pricing, water rights, and groundwater management, and discusses its implementation, covering water resources allocation and regulation in the Yellow River, integrated water affair management reforms, and agricultural water management in northern China. The last section focuses on the current reforms and hot topics, with strong emphasis on stringent water resource strategies applied to the river and lake principle system, recycled water use and water resources asset management, aswell as climate change impacts, and concludes with a summary of the many changes in the water sector in China and a look at the road ahead and the areas that still need to be reformed.