The Final Chapter

And so we come to the end of this blog! I want to apologise to my many fans for the lack of posting over the last couple of few weeks but alas the Christmas period has had me extremely busy.

So on to the blog…..

I wanted to use this last post to sum up, give you some final thoughts. I have discussed and analysed a number of different practices and projects that are being employed to tackle this crisis. Some are small-scale projects taking place at local levels while others are taking place on an unthinkably large scale. The current most popular policy tends to be the latter, as the Chinese government has woken up to the severity of the situation and is doing what it does best, throw money at the issue. These projects such as the SNWDP are costing many tens of billions of dollars and some believe that the cost of these projects simply isn’t worth the cost.

After all my research on this topic my personal belief is that the solution to this issue lies in the small scale. Rather than spending billions on projects that act as a temporary fix, what are needed are small changes on a large scale. Working with industry and local people to improve conservation, efficiency and reuse will make a much more permanent and significant difference. Policies to move water intensive industries out of the arid northern regions is essential to improving the water security of those regions. Promoting and investing in renewable energy will also help to drastically reduce the amount of water that those industries consume. These technologies will also have the added bonus of reducing carbon emissions and help to slow down climate change. Policies to reduce polluting will also help to make the most of the natural water available.

However it is worth noting that this is not something that can happen over night, the culture and attitude to water is something that will have to be changed over time. With this being said I find it hard to blame China for taking on the huge projects that have caused so much controversy. This crisis is exactly that, a crisis, it’s a problem that is simply too important. To not do everything within their power to address it would be a monumental mistake.  To Chinas credit they have made huge strides over the last decade when you consider the vast amount of time, energy and money they have devoted to finding a solution you cannot doubt their commitment.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

The River Chief System

Figure 1: The Dianchi Lake in Kunming, southwest China

Source: The BRICS Post, 2016

The water quality in the Dianchi Lake has been improved following the construction of a series of pollution control works, including construction of sewage treatment facilities and wetlands along the lake side. This year a total of 88 water environment treatment projects for Dianchi Lake will be started (The BRICS Post, 2016)

While China suffers from a shortage of water, what little water it does have is highly polluted and unsuitable for consumption. A great deal of Chinas ground and surface-waters have been polluted as industrial waste and agricultural byproducts as well as municipal waste find there way into rivers and lakes. It is estimated that 40% of China’s surface water is fit only for industrial and agricultural use and only half of the country’s major cities meet the standard for drinking water (Gleick, 2013).

The authorities in the Chinese capital Beijing, which is currently under a red alert smog warning, are now trying to tackle this issue of water pollution. A draft anti-water pollution piece of legislation was published in the Chinese press on Monday (Xinhua, 2016). It comes as an amendment of the Water Pollution Prevention Law.

It stipulates that local governments will be responsible to improve water quality and be empowered with the means to boost tougher anti-pollution laws. Local officials will be known as ‘river chiefs’ and they will manage all the rivers and lakes in their regions making sure they are protected (Global Times, 2016). Their responsibilities involve ecological restoration, control and prevention of pollution and protection of the water resource. They will be held accountable if environmental damage occurs in water bodies they've been assigned to, according to the guideline.

Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, told the Global Times that the river chief mechanism would better remind heads of local governments of their duties, urging them to coordinate the different departments for water protection. Ma noted that some local government heads used to place economic development above environmental protection.

"The effectiveness of the river chief mechanism depends on the accountability system and on whether the river chiefs would respond to public concerns in a timely manner," said Ma.

The guideline also stressed public involvement, saying river chiefs' names and responsibilities will be published for the public to read. The draft also focuses on means to protect city supplies of drinking water. It calls for local governments to draw up contingency plans to secure back-up water sources, particularly for regions where there is just one single source of water.

The Chinese government has for several years’ prioritised efforts to restrict chemical pollution of the air and water. The ministry of environmental protection issued a document listing 58 chemicals that will now require more restrictive registration, assessment and supervision. The report says that some banned toxicants are still being produced in China and that in some areas where drinking water is polluted, cancer rates have risen.

The river chief mechanism is expected to be implemented across the country by the end of 2018. It has been piloted in eight provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, Tianjin and East China's Zhejiang Province. This more intimate system of monitoring, prevention and protection should help improve water quality. For some time local governments and officials have been prioritising economic growth over environmental protection and these new laws are a step in the right direction.  

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project: an Economists Perspective

In this post I wanted to continue my discussion of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP). I recently read an Economist article from 2014 that reveals many of inadequacies and controversies surrounding the SNWDP. With the SNWDP being China’s flagship project in its search for water security I believe a more in depth analysis is necessary.

The idea for this vast diversion project has its roots in communist government as it was first suggested by Mao in 1952. While work began on this project 50 years later in a much more open and democratic China, it still embraces the communist ideals of progress at all cost. What I mean by this, is that the displacement of 330,000 people to make way for the central route, is not seen as too much of an issue. The government is happy to move whole villages long distances, far from their farms or work. This to me seems obscene; I think that only China, with the exception of North Korea, would even contemplate relocating such a large number of people. These people have had their lives uprooted and now live in small apartment blocks with barely enough money from the government to afford the rent.

The Economist article also analyses the supposed benefits of the project. The government believes that a third of Beijing’s total water demands will be met solely by this water transfer (Economist, 2014). However this share will decrease as population and industry expands, increasing Chinas overall demand. The article suggests that by transferring this water the Chinese government are promoting and enabling further growth of water intensive industries. It is suggested that in the long run the project could potentially increase the pressure on water resources in the north.

Furthermore there are considerable health and environmental impacts. Re-routing the river from the south to the north has the potential to spread southern tropical diseases, such as schistosomiasis, a particularly nasty debilitating disease. The extraction of water from southern rivers such as the Yangzi will reduce there flow which could make costal water resources very susceptible to seawater intrusion. With southern water supplies polluted, the south could quickly become as water scarce as the north.

As I discussed in my previous post the estimated cost of $62 billion is astronomical, and makes the original projected cost of $15 billion look pathetic. The $62 billion figure becomes even more outrageous when you consider that this doesn’t include the cost of running and maintain the project, nor does it include the cost of building 13 water treatment plants to purify the water (Economist, 2014). It seems then that the SNWDP, with its exorbitant cost and significant social and environmental impacts is not the solution to China’s water crisis.

The Economist article argues the point that simply increasing the supply of water in the short term is doing nothing to confront the real problem: inefficient use and high demand of water (simply put demand is outstripping supply). A 2009 World Bank report claims that Chinese industry consumes ten times more water per unit of production than other industrialised states. The reason for this inefficiency is that water in China is incredibly cheap. There has been an attempt to push up prices, in may 2014 the government introduced a policy that increases the price of tap water the more it is used (Reuters, 2014). However water prices are still well below average market levels. There is also a huge amount of unregulated extraction of groundwater by farmers and villagers despite seriously low levels.

If the central government could implement and sustain a price hike for water especially for water used in industry it would cut demand and lead to much more efficient use. If special high rates were applied to water scarce regions then this would help protect those regions from water intensive industry. It is often the case that the arid regions surrounding large desiccated cities such as Beijing are often forced to pipe what little water they have to the city. If higher water prices were implemented, these regions could offset the loss of their water through the higher tariffs.

This concept of higher prices, however, is not too popular in government. Officials fear that higher prices will slow down industrial growth and could potentially scare them away from cities. There is also the prospect of civil unrest and protests from residents. Hence China prefers to tackle the problem with money and huge infrastructure projects. However it has become clear to all that this strategy will not solve the problem. It might however keep the taps on for a few more years, and we must always remember that in China ‘politics is thicker than water’ (Economist, 2014).

China’s Dam Building Spree

There has been a general decline in interest in building big dams amongst state planners and water management experts due in part to their considerable environmental impacts. China however believes that the environmental impacts of their dams are ‘in hand’ (Ball, 2015). Today China is home to more than 87,000 dams with plans for many more in progress (International Rivers, 2016). It is China’s lack of clean water that is driving this dam building boom. Dams address two main issues of China’s water security, one being that dams produce hydroelectric power, a clean renewable energy source. This means they can be less reliant on polluting, water intensive methods of energy production such as the coal-fired plants. Secondly the dams can help to address the uneven distribution in China’s water resources. By building dams in the north they can help to build up reservoirs and store fresh water in what is generally an arid climate.

The Three Gorges Dam located on the Yangtze River is the world’s largest dam at 185m high and almost two kilometres wide, it is made up from some 30 million cubic metres of concrete and holds a reservoir of 31,000 square miles (Ball, 2015). The dam has the capacity to produce a gigantic 18.2 GW of power; this is almost 10 times what the Hoover Dam in America can produce. This dam however is more than just an energy and water resource, it is clear that China regards the dam as a political symbol, a show of its technological and economic might. 

Figure 1: The Three Gorges Dam 

Source: Science Photo Library 

“The Three Gorges Dam will show the rest of the world that the Chinese people have high aspirations and the capacity to successfully build the world’s largest water conservancy and hydroelectric power project.” Says Chinese Premier Li Peng (Ball, 2015).

The building of this dam has come at a considerable ecological, economic and social cost. The dam itself destroyed a huge area of land in order to store water as the reservoir filled up, a number of priceless national heritage sites were also lost. Also the build up of sediment behind the dam, will in some critics opinion, increase the risk of flooding upriver in Sichuan province. There have also been concerns about the dams’ vulnerability to earthquakes. Furthermore the dam is thought to increase the risk of earthquakes due to the added weight of the water behind the dam. There have been a number of incidents including landslides and seismic activity since the dam was completed. However the most controversial issue relates to the forced relocation of the residents whose homes were located in the new reservoir basin. 1.5 million people were displaced and relocated with very little thought for their welfare.

Part of China’s plan to build large reservoirs in the north has caused international concern especially in the countries that lie downstream of the dams. Many rivers in the region have their source in the Himalayas and they run down through China or China controlled Tibet into India and Bangladesh. Beijing’s plans to harness the waters of the rivers in Tibet could potentially have significant socio-economic consequences for the downstream countries. This is a cause for concern for the international community, because while the issue is still relatively low key there is potential for this to lead to conflict. China shows no signs of slowing down and currently has plans for 36 more dams on the rivers and tributaries in Tibet, including a 510 MW dam at Zangmu on the Brahmaputra (Dwivedi, 2016). However it is difficult to blame China too much as they do have a restricted territorial sovereignty due to there status as the up river state. Also we must consider the fact that China’s water and energy demands are expected to grow in the coming years and with their remarkable economic growth finally stalling they must take full advantage of there natural resources.

Alternative Water Resources

Over the last decade China’s stance on it’s water crisis has been based around throwing money at the problem and hoping it will go away. They seem to think that large problems need large solutions, hence the construction of the gigantic South-to-North Water Diversion Project, huge desalination plants and The Three Gorges Dam, the worlds largest. However they have not completely overlooked other alternative smaller scale water saving technics and practices.

Rainwater Harvesting

This is an extremely cheap way of increasing water resources in arid regions and has been overlooked for some time. With some simple equipment, rainwater can be effectively captured and stored for use in any household or agricultural setting. Rainwater harvesting is now being widely promoted in many of the most arid northern regions of China. It is being used in urban and rural environments and is becoming a crucial asset in China’s struggle for water security. The central government has now made it a top priority in some of its driest regions (Cheng, et al, 2009).

The Loess Plateau of Gansu in northwest China is an area where water is scarce and most of the locals have suffered a lack of water for centuries. Rainwater harvesting has been implemented here to great effect bringing 1.2 million people out of water insecurity (Qiang, Yuanhong). And due to the fact that water shortage is often a root cause of poverty, since the rainwater harvesting system has been implemented there has been significant economic development.

Precipitation Enhancement

This technic is often referred to as ‘cloud seeding’ and it has recently been proposed as a potential solution to the many droughts that China experiences in its northern provinces. China is the number one practitioner of cloud seeding and they have invested a great deal of time and money into the technology. They believe that precipitation enhancement has the potential to create new freshwater resources in its most arid areas and will help them push back the ever-encroaching Gobi desert. However recent studies have suggested that using aerosols to enhance precipitation could have a significant harmful impact on crops, air quality and the hydrological cycle (Zhao, et al, 2006).

Municipal Wastewater Reclamation

This is another practice that has a lot of promise and could significantly improve water resources in urban areas. The idea is to capture water from municipal and industrial sources and then to process this wastewater and make it suitable for household, agricultural and industrial reuse. Treating this wastewater so that it can be suitable for human consumption is an expensive process and advanced treatment such as reverse osmosis is rarely undertaken. This means that any reclaimed water is of a low quality and could pose a potential health risk. However despite this, there is still a lot of potential in reclaiming water and reusing it in agriculture and industry. Such practices will help reduce the pressure on water in urban areas and free up the clean water for more important household uses.

These ideas all hold a great deal of promise and show that huge and expensive infrastructure projects are not the only way to tackle China’s water crisis. I believe that small-scale ideas, like these, implemented on a large-scale hold a great deal of value. Instead of trying to drastically reengineer the geography of the land, the local and national governments must re focus their attention on these more practical solutions.

Renewable Energy

In my post relating to the South-North Water Diversion Project I outlined how China has become over reliant on water intensive energy sources such as coal, which accounts for 12% of total water withdrawals. With demand for energy and coal expected to rise as the population increases and urbanises, this will put further pressure on water resources in the already arid northern provinces. The northern provinces will suffer most as this is where most of the coal is mined and where the power plants are located. Four-fifths of China’s total coal reserves are located in these regions, meaning that the need for less water intensive modes of energy generation has never been greater.

Figure 1: Areas of water stress and mode of power generation

Source: China Water Risk

This is one of the reasons behind China’s recent surge in investment and production of renewable energy sources. A new report has suggested that by increasing reliance on renewable energy sources and adapting China’s current energy sector with new improved technologies they could reduce water use by 42% (IRENA and China Water Risk,2016).
“The global issues of water, energy and climate are completely interconnected. The only effective, immediately available solution to meet the rising demand for energy while limiting environmental impacts, is to scale up renewable energy. China has recognised this and must continue its leadership in the global energy transition.” Adnan Z. Amin, IRENA Director-General.

The IRENA report focuses on the interconnected nature of China’s energy production and water resources. It concludes that in order to reduce carbon emissions and free up water for more important uses in agriculture and households China must invest in renewable energy.

China it seems has got the message, as it has become one of the leaders in the renewable energy transition, spending $103bn on renewable energy last year (36% of world total spend) (Rumney, 2016). China is aiming to source 20% of its energy from renewables by 2030, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions and save water. Experts believe that it is economically and technically feasible for China to reach a stage where they are producing 26% of their energy thorough renewable sources (IRENA). If China were to reach their target of 20% by 2030 then they will be reducing the pressure on their water resources for energy by 42%. This saving is mainly due to the fact that the two main renewable sources that China are investing in, solar and wind, can operate efficiently at an extremely low water cost. Solar requires a significantly lower amount of water than is required by thermal to produce the same amount of electricity and wind requires non at all.

Figure 2: Water and carbon intensity of power generation

Source: IRENA

Figure 2 shows the potential improvements in water consumption and emissions that switching to renewable energy could provide by 2030. It is clear then that policies and practices such as these are making a real difference in China’s struggle for water security. It is not the grandiose engineering projects that cost billions and displace millions but the more subtle and sustainable policies, such as investing in renewable energy, that will help the most.