China’s Water Shortage

The Problem

China is a region that has experience substantial growth over the years in areas of industry, living standards, and population. But this success has resulted in the depletion of one of the greatest natural resources water. Industrial growth means an increase demand for water used in production processes and much of the water being used is not being reclaimed. A higher living standard means a greater demand for electricity that is lowering water levels in rivers used for generation. The population growth increases this nation’s basic living need for water. Of China’s 640 cities, 300 of them are suffering from inadequate water supplies (News Service Reports). Other issues related to water shortages within this nation are the insufficient management of this resource by government, including wastewater management and uneven distribution of river and rainwater; inadequate public awareness of environmental protection; and the overuse of underground water.

Political and Economic Issues

China’s legislative work to protect the environment and its resources did not begin until 1973 when they held the first national meeting on this issue (Wang). Since then the nation has established what appears to be extensive environmental legislation, including two laws addressing water pollution and four addressing water as an environmental resource.

In 1979 the Environmental Protection law was developed and revised in 1989 to protect and improve the environment, prevent and control pollution and other public hazards, safeguard human health, and facilitate the development of socialist modernization. The Water Law established in 1988 was for the purpose of rationally developing, utilizing and protecting water sources. In 1991 the Water and Soil Conservation Law aided in the protection and rational utilization of water resources. The Basic Environmental Act in 2002 was established to raise the quality of the environment, preserve environmental resources, and pursue sustainable development by promoting environmental protection. Based on some of the actual situations in China today, all this legislation seems pointless. While the nation does not seem to be protecting one of life’s greatest commodities legally, what are they doing economically?

In 1998 China spent $8.7 billion on environmental protection, this was a 43.7 percent increase over the prior year (Wang). While this aided in the protection of the natural resource it did little to aid in conservation. In the past the Chinese government provided water. According to Wang Wenyuan (1998) it “was cheap or even free, so people paid no attention to conservation”. The nation needs to establish water prices that would be inline with various consumer usage levels to foster conservation.

The Shortage’s Affect on the Community

Contributing Resource Management Factors

At present, on the one hand, water management in China belongs to several

governmental departments and there are no integrated institutions for

management. Although China has issued the Law of Water, the implementation

of the Law is difficult because of the lack of a single institution for

water management and coordination. On the other hand, the low water price

results not only in insufficient funds to maintain water-engineering systems

but also in the waste of water resources. The Law of water was created in

January of 1988 and then later on made effective on July 1st, 1988. It was

created to help rectify the above issues; however it has not really done

much because of the lack of centralization and ownership of the water

management problem. As quoted by Article 9 under the General Provisions of

the Water Law, "The State shall exercise a system of unified administration

on water resources in association with administration at various levels and

by various departments. The department of water administration under the

State Council shall be in charge of the unified administration of water

resources throughout the entire country." One can clearly see that there is

no sense of central administration,