Latest comments posted about Fresh water thinking for a thirsty nation on ChinaDialogue en-gb http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/362-Fresh-water-thinking-for-a-thirsty-nation http://staging.chinadialogue.net/images/cdlogo.gif http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/362-Fresh-water-thinking-for-a-thirsty-nation I've come into this debate a little late. I'd have to dispute LXY's contention that DFID's Yunnan Environment Programme (www.yedp.org) acheived little success in horizontal integration between the three departments listed, or that the international community has ignored cheap, innovative solutions for the poor - DFID, for example, has been one of the prime proponents for the spread of Water User Associations within China, as well as technologies which try to address environmentally-related poverty problems. DFID China is happy to share the experience, as requested. In the first instance, feel free to contact me directly in DFID China's office in Beijing, via j-warburton@dfid.gov.uk Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:41:15 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/362#comment-289 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/362#comment-289 Simon – great comments! Environmental solutions do need more of a human touch, which reminds me....Horizontal integration of government departments – the poverty alleviation bureau, the Environmental Protection Bureau and the Yunnan Development Reform Commission – is something that DFID’s Yunnan Environment Programme tried to address, but without too much success. That said, it is early days in this process and uniting the various parts of a fragmented bureaucracy – at national, provincial and local level as well as within and between Provinces – to achieve common goals is a worthy and crucial endeavour. For example, responsibility for monitoring water quality in China is still a grey area and until the institutional muddle is cleared up it seems water quality will continue to suffer. The need to develop “Integrated river basin management” poses a similar challenge. But returning to DFID. I would be extremely interested if their staff would agree to share some of the learning points from their Yunnan experience so as projects that address integration issues in the future can avoid a few of the pitfalls. Regards your point on improving agricultural efficiency. The World Bank implemented a project up in Xinjiang (Tarim II) that spent millions of dollars lining irrigation channels with non-porous membrane skins, laser leveling etc. However, as a result of this project the Bank has also started to make noise about “Water User Associations” – a community-based mechanism for water management which places water in the ownership of local farmers and distributes water between households with greater accountability. Hope this information helps. LXY Wed, 20 Sep 2006 20:04:00 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/362#comment-240 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/362#comment-240 China's Agriculture uses around 70% of water resources, contributes only 15% to GDP, yet it supports more than 60% of the population. Reform of agriculture practice is the route to making a greater quantity of water available, while massive investment in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment is needed to improve the quality of water available. Water is absolutely key to poverty alleviation and healthy livelihoods. As China develops and has access to increased state revenue so investment to the less privileged rural population is increasingly vital for reducing income gaps and maintaining social stability. Achieving these goals will require much greater integration of government departments - working towards achieving objectives at a river basin level. Policy and The laws enabling this are already in place but there is a huge challenge in implementation. Other key challenges are the mismatch between agricultural policy - focused on maintaining grain production quotas at local, regional and national levels - irrespective of the inappropriateness of some crop choices at local levels given water resource capacity. Water policy and agricultural policy need to merge to give the farmer flexibility and guidance tied to incentives. Rolling funds need to be extended to stimulate investment in more efficient new spray and drip irrigation or in laser levelling and other technologies to improve efficiency of flood irrigation. Again policy guidance is already in place but there is too much focus on the technological fixes when the development of an enabling environment - providing finance, training and leadership - is the key to success. With the average rural person having just 0.1 hectare to support them the system is highly fragmented and the individual farmer has little room to make decisions. However very strong and effective organisation at village and community level means that these small holdings are managed in a remarkably coordinated manner. In time the population migration to the cities (expected 50:50 rural urban split by 2030) will allow for larger farms and more capital intensive operation. Greater agriculture based wealth can be spread amongst fewer rural people and so income gaps can gradually close and investment in environmentally sustainable practices increase. Understanding this local rural management system and how to implement positive change through existing social structures seems to me the key to successful development and I am very interested to hear from other correspondents for further insight on how these systems operate and how they can be influenced through the county government and grass roots channels. 3 Gorges, South – North Transfer and other such mega schemes (and the rhetoric that surrounds them) are just a side show to the real challenge of bringing about grass roots changes in behaviour and investment in sustainable environmental infrastructure distributed throughout China. Part of that solution does involve treating water as an economic commodity and applying the proven economic tools of supply demand, markets and incentives to formalise management of a scarce resource in an equitable manner and prevent wide spread abuse of commons. The Chinese Government now is in a position to meet the challenges it faces and should be supported in doing so by the international community. Simon Spooner. Simon.spooner@mottmac.com Thu, 14 Sep 2006 17:13:52 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/362#comment-223 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/362#comment-223 I read the phrase "fresh wave of new thinking" and "innovation" but saw nothing of either in the text. Pricing has been discussed for years and still there is no agreed solution to China's 'agricultural problem' - agriculture produces only 15% of GDP, but pays next to nothing for water. Were increases to be introduced it would either impoverish millions of farmers (unable to afford the new rates) or send food costs and inflation soaring. Similarly, waste water treatment, though important, hardly fits into the category of innovative. But China has already acted on this some time ago - China's amended water pollution law sates that all cities with a population of more than 250,000 must build waste water facilities for recycling. So innovative solutions for the north of China? Israel has fantastic agriculture but is one of the most arid countries in the world. How? By using drip technology and using syringes to inject vegetation. Perhaps China could (and perhaps already is) learning from their experience. And there are other, cheaper but genuinely innovative solutios for the poor out there, which have been neglected by the government and the international donor community. International Development Entreprises had a great water storage project down in Guizhou that catered to the poor which ran out of money. But is more of that kind of thinking that is needed to really find solutions. LXY Fri, 08 Sep 2006 19:29:16 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/362#comment-217 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/362#comment-217