Evolution of Water Governance in China

Abstract

Water governance has been handled as a critical national issue in China since ancient times. Over thousands of years, water governance in China has evolved from flood control, irrigation, and navigation to modern large-scale water supply, water pollution control, and ecological protection, with sustainable water resources management being the major challenge today. This paper presents an overview of the development and evolution of China’s water governance before and after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. In particular, over the last 70 years, China’s water governance has experienced fundamental changes, which can be grouped into four stages: (1) engineering development and project management underlying national and regional planning and administrative command (1949–1978); (2) water resources management characterized by water withdrawal permits and initial attempts for integrated water resources management (1979–2001); (3) more established integrated management combining watershed management and regional water management and adopting growing market mechanisms for water resources allocation (2002–2016); and (4) since 2016, ecological civilization construction intended to strengthen the systematic, comprehensive management of rivers, lakes, and basins by implementing the River Chief system in the whole country.