Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
is precisely these regions, moreover, that have been largely left behind in China's rush to
develop its east coast, leading political leaders and hydropower officials to argue that dams
can contribute both to the nation's energy supply and to jobs, revenue, and improved infra-
structure in Yunnan.
These large-scale policy initiatives belie a tension between central-government control
and economic liberalization and privatization, which have been the hallmarks of the reform
era. Since the passage of the Water Law in 2002 (Chinese National People's Congress
2002b), China has been pushing for integrated river-basin management (IRBM,
liuyu
zonghe guanli
), which the Global Water Partnership defines as “a process which promotes
the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in or-
der to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without
compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems” (UNEP 2008:5).
IRBMeffectively broadensthesetofstakeholders inwatermanagement andensuresthat
water-resource issues are considered in the economic-development plans put forward by
other key state agencies, such as the NDRC. An approach that requires coordinated politic-
al and economic planning in order to achieve diverse objectives such as development, con-
servation, and social welfare, IRBM has been gaining momentum around the world over
the past two decades. Its goal is to create institutions and processes that help overcome the
fragmentationofwaterusefordifferentpurposes,bringingusersintoacommonframework
for allocating and managing water in a more coordinated way (Molle et al. 2007:587-588).
In practice, IRBM can prove “difficult to translate into operational terms” (Watson
2004:244). Chinese leaders have discovered that if they are to truly implement IRBM,
they will need new management entities with a broader vision than any single agency can
provide. Seven River-Basin Management Commissions (Shuili Weiyuanhui, most often
translated as “Water Conservancy Commissions”) were created in the 1950s. These com-
missions share oversight duties with provincial-level government agencies in the manage-
ment of the nation's largest river basins: the Songhua, Liao, Huai, Hai, Yellow, Yangtze,
and Pearl. They have regulatory control over water in major mainstream rivers, but not in
tributaries. They manage water quantity, but not quality, which is the MEP's domain (Turn-
er 2005). The River-Basin Management Commissions assumed new importance after the
passage of the Water Law in 2002, which codified IRBM into national law, and they are
now situated directly under the MWR, where they are responsible for the coordination of
IRBM (Boekhorst et al. 2010).
In the spring of 2012, I visited the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower
Research, which occupies a series of twelve-story steel-and-glass buildings on several city
blocks on Beijing's west side. A row of black Audi sedans sat out front, their chauf-
feurs waiting. This is the epicenter of expertise, financing, and planning for water re-
sources in China: the China Three Gorges Corporation is next door, the project offices for
