Improving the Allocation of Water Resources in an Urban Environment in China - Case Study Example

Title Task Date Introduction Improving the Allocation of Water Resources in an Urban Environment in China The allocation of water resources is a process in which the status quo or natural distribution of water changes in order to satisfy the needs for social and economic development The uneven water resource distribution in China’s urban areas in terms of time and space makes the allocation of water resources very important Bai X. & Imura H. (2001. pp. 24-pp.26). In China there is a legal framework for water resource allocation that works on three levels. These levels are the river basin or the regional level, the abstractor level and in public water supply systems. There are many problems in the way consistency and integration is addressed at these three levels. China needs good allocation of water resource its urban areas because it is a country that is short of this resource. Beginning in the 1970s the economy of China has been developing tremendously and this has increased the demand for water ( Bai X. & Imura H. Cheng, H. & Hu Y. (2011.pp.254).As a result, many urban areas and cities have an acute water shortage problem. Furthermore, China’s water environmental quality has been seriously deteriorating in recent decades. There is serious pollution has taken place in coastal waters, ground waters, lakes and rivers. This paper will discuss the strategies of improving water resource allocation in Tianjin in China. The Situation in Tianjin City `The situation results from a number of factors such as population growth, urban expansion, climate change and industrialization. With economic growth, industrialization and urban expansion have increased and the consumption of water. In addition these industries produce effluents that are directed into water courses thus polluting them. China is the country with the highest population in the world. Population explosion has put pressure on the available water resources Wei D., Jun Hong B., & Min Hua Y. (2002).pp.290-291).High population also increases the demand for food which in turn puts pressure on the land for agricultural food production. Framers have therefore gone to the extent of depleting available water resources and causing pollution in water bodies. Climate change has resulted in warming which has impacted negatively on water resources Management and design strategies for improving water allocation The first strategy is the development of efficient technology for irrigation so that agricultural use of water can be reduced. The amount of water used in China for Agriculture is 62% but this accounts for a mere 15% of the GDP. Therefore, enhancing the efficiency of water in agriculture is the most suitable way of saving water resource in Tianjin. Most people in Tianjin and the larger Huabei province use broad irrigation as the best method for irrigation. The city has in the past employed the use of other water saving technologies though. Many skilled technologies used in saving water originate in Israel. This means a lot of money should be used in acquiring these technologies (Wei, Jun Hong & Min Hua 2002 pp.290-291. ). Governments should provide support to research institutions to try and explore the possibility of developing local water saving technologies for China and Tianjin in particular. This can help to cut down the cost for water saving technologies which can be a very good way of lowering the quantity of water being used in agriculture. Conservation of water takes place after when behavioral changes are adopted following the adoption of efficient irrigation technology that can bring about a reduction in the amount of water being used. For Instance, with higher efficiency in irrigation, it is possible for a farmer to reduce the amount of irrigation done on the farm and achieve the same yields as with the previous rates of irrigation. This would mean high yields with lesser water for irrigation. Better irrigation technologies also help farmers to have a more accurate timing of irrigation and can therefore reduce the total cost of application of waste (Wei, Jun Hong, & Min Hua 2002 pp.290-291). Development of the irrigation technologies may be slow and not effective. China has been used to borrowing technology from Israel for a long time. Development of technology locally may be take long time yet the problem of water is an urgent one. People may be reluctant to adopt and try out this technology. People may not be willing to adopt some of these technologies especially if they are not suitable to their needs. The suitability of the technologies to the needs of specific farmers is very important. Development of local irrigation technology may be beneficial in the sense that it will greatly reduce the amount of money being spent on technology (Winalski 2009). Technology obtained from Israel may be more expensive than local irrigation technology. The money spared through the development of local irrigation technology can be used to improve water allocation in Tianjin City. Locally made technology may be advantageous because it can be made to work very efficiently in the Chinese environment. This strategy may save a lot of water and in the long run reduce the amount of water used in agriculture (Bai & Imura 2001.p24-pp26.). A reduction in the amount of water being used for agricultural activities means that water will be available for other purposes. Nevertheless, there is a possibility that highly efficient systems of irrigation can change the production and cost functions that farmers may be facing. More efficient irrigation technologies may also encourage farmers to increase the size of land under agriculture. This implies that the amount of water needed for irrigation may not go down after all. Instead they may even need more water to take care of their intensive agricultural activities. This may in turn cause change in behavior that may lower or increase the amount of water extracted from the ground. This strategy may be very effective especially if the technologies created fit the needs of the farmers (Mariño & Simonović 2001.pp67.). Strategy 2 The second strategy is to explore the non-traditional water resources. In China, a lot of water serves the purpose of drinking, flushing toilets and washing cars. However, these purposes can be accomplished using reclaimed water, desalted water and even rain water. Exploring these water sources is an important way of solving the water crisis in Tianjin city (Sun 2009.pp.190.). A lot of water is needed in this city and relying on the traditional sources may not be a good thing to do. In Tianjin, the main industries that consume water are the petroleum, chemical, cotton spinning, metallurgical industries, and food and paper production. Overuse of ground water has caused the water table to reduce by more than 60m (Wei, Jun Hong, & Min Hua 2002. pp.290-291.). This huge demand for water will best be met if rain water is harvested to supplement the available traditional sources of water. It is possible to harvest rain water from the roofs for toilet flushing, collect rain water from the ground for garden irrigation or for cleaning residential areas. Reclaimed waste water could be good for washing cars and irrigating gardens. A lot of the rainwater and runoff in Tianjin city is allowed to flow into the rivers. Harvesting and using this water could just be one of the solutions to the water problems of the city. Although this alternative of solving the water crisis in Tianjin city is viable, there are a number of challenges that may hinder its implementation. The challenge of immature technologies makes it hard to popularize this strategy ( Xu F. X., Zhang C.H., Chang H. & Wang F. 2010pp.741). Proper and appropriate technology should be put in place to help ensure that the collection and use of rainwater in optimized. Government should be ready to offer foundation support so as to encourage many more privates and entities to create very efficient but fairly cheap technology for the use of this water. Issues of pollution may come in the way of water harvesting. For example water that is mixed up with industrial effluents, agricultural chemicals and other pollutants on the ground may not be suitable for washing floors or cars (Xu, Zhang, Chang & Wang 2010). It may therefore be necessary to incur more costs on the purification of water collected from the ground for it to be used for cleaning purposes. Rain harvesting from the roof is more suitable and therefore people will need a lot of teaching for them to accept to adopt these ways of conserving water. Otherwise, rain water is a very good source of water to supplement the available water sources. It has a great potential of increasing water availability in Tianjin City (Wei, Jun Hong & Min Hua 2002). Strategy 3 Improving the price of water to so as to control the demand of water by urban users is also a viable strategy (Winalski 2009p.191). In the urban areas of China most of the water is used for domestic and public activities. In the last 10 years, the total urban, public and domestic water use has been rising at 25.67 percent. During the same period, water consumption per capita in the urban areas was triple that of the rural areas. This implies that here lies great potential in demand control and water conservation in a fair method of tackling water pollution and shortage in Tianjin city. However, the average price for drinking water was 3.77 RMB Yuan/L in 2009 after the recent increase in the same price (Vajpeyi, 1998. pp. 76.). This means that many citizens will definitely become careless about water conservation. Consequently, quotas on water use and block tariffs can be very effective as well in helping citizens to conserve water. There is a lot of wastage of water as a result of transmission and distributional losses, inefficient use and overexploitation. Under pricing contributes too many of the water problems of China. China’s water is among the cheapest in the whole world and this price is below the cost for most of the places (Speed 2009. 25:2, 389-405.). This is a big reason for water wastage and it also hinders the development and use of technologies of water conservation. Reforms in the water sector of China target water pricing. Priorities include setting the suitable price for water, tradable permits and water rights, and the recovery of water services over traditional policies on water. Pricing mechanism is being implemented to promote the change from “engineering water” to “resource water” (Bai & Imura 2001. pp. 24-26.). This strategy does have its challenges and benefits. The biggest challenge is the slow development of these inclining block tariffs and water use quota. This strategy has been used before in 18 provinces in China since the year 2001. However, 12 provinces and many of the cities did not make their standards (Zheng F. & Hong Z. pp. 271-272). All the provinces should make these standards and these standards should also capture industrial use of water. The difference in prices should be allowed based on the class of industrial pollution. The benefit from this strategy is that Tianjin City may be able to save a lot of water for other purposes. People will definitely reduce their use of water because the price has gone up. This strategy can be the most effective because domestic and public water consumption has a direct relationship with demand for water. However, there is a possibility that if the price in increased unreasonably complaints may arise from certain quarters (Mariño, & Simonović, 2001). Conclusion This paper has discussed how to improve the allocation of water in Tianjin City in China. There are many water scarcity and pollution problems in Tianjin City. Various strategies can be used to solve these problems. The strategies include the development of efficient irrigation technologies, exploration of nontraditional water sources and the upward review of water pricing. When all these and many other strategies are well implemented, the water problem in China and in Tianjin will be a thing of the past. The government and the authorities of the city should lay down appropriate policies, systems and frameworks to help achieve this. The government and authorities concerned with water use regulation in China should launch campaigns to educate people on better ways of water management and conservation. Domestic and public water use accounts for a very huge percentage of water use in China. Farmers should also be encouraged to be conscious of the way they use water for irrigation and other purposes. References Bai X. & Imura H. (2001). Towards Sustainable Urban Water Resource Management:A case Study in Tianjin, China. Sustainable Development, pp. 24-26. Bai X. & Imura H. Cheng, H. & Hu Y. (2011). Improving China’s Water Resources Management for Better Adaptation to Climate Change. Springer Science + Business Media B.V. pp. 254. Mariño, A.M., & Simonović, S.P. (2001). Integrated Water Resources Management. International Association of Hydrological Sciences. pp. 67 Speed R. (2009). A Comparison of Water Rights Systems in China and Australia, International Journal of Water Resources Development, 25:2, 389-405. Sun X. (2009). Introduction: The Development of A Water Rights System in China, International Journal of Water Resources Development, pp. 190. Vajpeyi, D. (1998). Water Resource Management: A comparative Perspective. Green Wood Publishing Group. pp. 76. Wei D., Jun Hong B., & Min Hua Y. (2002). Problems and Countermeasures of Water of Water Resources for Sustainable Utilization in China. Chinese Geographic Science, Volume 12, Number 4 pp.290-291. Winalski D. (2009). Cleaner Water in China? The Implications of the Amendments to China’s Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution. University of Oregon.pp. 191- Xu F. X., Zhang C.H., Chang H. & Wang F. (2010). A Review of Water Quality and Pollution in China. American-Eurasian Journal Agric & Environmental Sc. 8(6): 741 Zheng F. & Hong Z. The Challenges and Strategies of Water Resource Sustainable Utilization in China. Shandong University. pp. 271-272. Read More