Water Resources Management III 413 Analysis of distribution of water resources in Zhejiang province J. Liu, W. Shao & T. Zhang Department of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University, People’s Republic of China Abstract The quantity of water resources per capita in Zhejiang is only 2118.82 m3, which is much lower than the average level throughout the world. Moreover, most of the water is seriously polluted. The temporal and spatial distribution of water resources is quite unbalanced. Therefore, it is important to have a rational distribution system of water resources in Zhejiang. Firstly, in this paper, the characteristics of water resources and the state of the distribution system of water resources in Zhejiang province are briefly outlined. Secondly, the rational distribution system of water resources for Zhejiang is analyzed in four aspects. The first is how to carry out the distribution of water rights by the Water Affair Management Bureau and to carry out the redistribution by the market. The second is how to carry out the distribution of water environment rights through the distribution of the sewage discharge ration and to trade the ration in the market. The third is the necessity of the emergency distribution measures carried out by Water Affair Management Bureau in an emergency. The fourth is the essentiality of the laws and regulations regarding the rational distribution system of water resources. Finally, some reform proposals for establishing a rational distribution system of water resources in Zhejiang are put forward at the end of the paper. The distribution of water rights should be definite and proper. There should be free trade of water rights. It is necessary to pay more attention to the effect of water environment rights on water rights and to apply both administrative and marketable measures to carry out the distribution. The emergency distribution measures and the laws and regulations regarding the distribution system of water resources should be established. Keywords: water resources, water environment resources, distribution, market, government. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 80, © 2005 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) 414 Water Resources Management III 1 Introduction Water is the lifeline of all the nations. The quantity of water resources per capita in China is 2,300 m3, which is much lower than the average level in the world. Although there are abundant rainfall and water resources, the quantity of water resources per capita in Zhejiang is only 2,118.82 m3, which is lower than that in China. This is caused by not only large density of population but also serious water pollution. Therefore, it is very important to develop a rational distribution system of water resources in Zhejiang province now. The studies of distribution systems of water resources have been carried out in some developed countries for several decades. Some of them like America, Australia and England have established integrated systems to distribute water resources more reasonably. The analogous studies in China are a little late, but more and more studies will be carried out because of the severe existed problem of water resources in China. 2 Summary of the state of water resources in Zhejiang There are eight main rivers flowing across Zhejiang. They are Qiantang River, Ou River, Ling River, Tiao River, Yong River, Feiyun River, Ao River and Cao’e River. The characteristics of water resources in Zhejiang are: a. The spatial distribution of water resources is uneven. Eighty percent of water resources are in west mountainous area and only twenty percent are in east plain. Unfortunately, there are much more water demands from the east region because of higher density of population, richer life and faster development speed. b. The temporal distribution of water resources is uneven. The rainfall and runoff concentrate in several months of the year and vary from one year to another. c. The length of most rainfall is greatly short, and the flows are current. Only thirty percent of the river runoff can be used as water resources. d. The phenomenon of water pollution is becoming more and more serious. The characteristics of water resources in Zhejiang are outlined in table 1. Table 1: The characteristics of water resources in Zhejiang. Spatial distribution About 80% in the west 20% in the east Temporal Abundant from April to Absent in other months distribution August More than 70% can’t be Water can be used Less than 30% can be used used Water quality Under class Ⅲ: 74.3% Upwards of class Ⅳ: 25.7% It is important to adjust measures to local conditions, with a view to the characteristics of water resources, when we are studying the distribution system of water resources in Zhejiang. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 80, © 2005 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) Water Resources Management III 415 3 Actuality of the distribution of water resources in Zhejiang Most areas in Zhejiang are implementing a water use permission system. The execution of this system can be seen as the first distribution of water rights to a certain extent. Water property and water rights are separated to some extent and water users are entitled to the right to use and profit from water resources. However, the user’s water rights are limited in many aspects in the system. For example, it can’t be fixed forever or be sold to other users [1]. The distribution of water resources is mainly based on the applications of water use from users and the examination and approval from the water resources management department of government. The quantity of water distributed to the user is determined according to the so-called “priority order”, such as: agriculture use, industry use, commerce use, etc by the water management department. Users must pay relevant water resources tariff according to the quantity of water they have used [2]. It has been proved that the water use permission system is unsuitable for Zhejiang province. Users have no enthusiasm to use water frugally because water rights can’t be sold. It may be unfair and inefficient because “priority order” isn’t often in accordance with the reality. Water resources tariff is very low because of various reasons. The above factors lead to a strange phenomenon: some are lack of water resources while others are wasting water resources in Zhejiang. Moreover, water resources are not controlled by several departments of government included departments of water conservancy, municipal construction and public utility. Not one department in Zhejiang province can join in the management. It increases the difficulties in rational distribution of water resources and solving problems on water saving and water environment protection. As a result, the water use permission system is unsuitable to distribute rationally in Zhejiang. A new system is necessary and should be put forward to solve all these problems on water resources. 4 Analysis of distribution of water resources in Zhejiang The rational distribution of water resources is that limited water resources are distributed to users according to principles of justice, efficiency, sustainable development in one drainage basin or a region [3]. Based on the characteristics of water resources and the present distribution system of water resources, the new distribution system of water resources suitable for Zhejiang should include: the first distribution of water rights established through united management of water resources and democratic negotiation, the redistribution of water rights and protection of water environment resources through market, the emergency distribution measures carried out by Water Affair Management Bureau in emergency, the essential laws and regulations about the rational distribution system of water resources. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 80, © 2005 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) 416 Water Resources Management III 4.1 The first distribution and the redistribution of water rights Water users usually regard water resources as “free public resources” because of the low water resources tariff and the absence of specific first distribution of water resources. It has been proved by economics and practice that “free public resources” will be soon used up because there are no efficient measures to prevent the users from using and even wasting the resources farthest. Water resources tariff can only be increased step by step. Therefore, it is very important to specify the first distribution of water rights. Separate management of water resources by several departments of the government is an obstacle to build a definite first distribution system of water rights. In contrast, united management by a special department is suitable for Zhejiang. Therefore, the Water Affair Management Bureau of Zhejiang should be constituted. The main staff is composed of officials from provincial government and city government in the province, and by specialists from water resources research department. Its duty is to put forward the first distribution plan of water rights, to constitute laws and regulations of water resources, to manage the main water conservancy in the province, to protect water environment and to upgrade the public water resources information system. The main duty of Water Affair Management Bureau of Zhejiang is to confirm or modify the first distribution of water rights by promoting water resources conference every year. The conference delegates include officials from Water Affair Management Bureau and governments, officials and delegates of users from every region in the province and specialists. The first distribution plan of water rights is confirmed or modified through fair negotiation and careful argumentation in the conference. Water rights are distributed to every region based on the plan. One region’s water rights are distributed to users in this region through fair negotiation too. The process of first distribution of water rights is as described above.