The high cost water extracts in China

China is home to one-fifth of the world's population but has only 7 percent of its freshwater. Water is essential to human survival and social development, but it cannot be traded like other resources. Water is heavily subsidized in nearly all countries. Agriculture accounts for about 70 percent of global water use, and water for irrigation is basically free, or highly subsidized, all over the world. In many developing countries such as China, India and Brazil, electricity supplied to farmers for pumping water is also subsidized.

Since users don't pay the real cost water, it is very difficult for any country to ensure extra supply of water. So China has to depend on its own sources of water. Fortunately, China has more than enough water for the next 100 years. Unfortunately, like most other countries, it lacks efficient water management and governance practices.

China's water management has been on an unsustainable path for decades. For example, total water use in the country has increased nearly five-fold since 1949, and for the past six decades, the demand for additional free or subsidized water has been met with more supply. Serious thinking has rarely gone into determining whether additional supply is truly needed, or improving efficiency of water management through effective pricing policies, available technology and public awareness programs.