Op-Ed Contributors

Boosting water reform in rural areas

By Zhou Yaozhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-20 07:55

The size of drought-stricken areas in China is shrinking, but dry weather continues to create drought-like conditions. Reports say that farms spread over about 121,300 hectares near Dongting Lake, Hunan province, are under a dry spell and Baohu Lake in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, has almost dried up.

Balancing urban, rural, industrial, and environmental use of water is a great challenge for China. Rural water conservancy programs are crucial not only for food security, but also to supply safe drinking water to rural residents and keep them healthy. They are linked to flood and drought prevention, rural development, the economy and social stability.

Related readings:  China urges water conservation supervision  Water, sanitation key for sustainable China

In China, total water use increased from 549.8 billion cubic meters in 2000 to 599 billion cubic meters in 2010, while the share of water used in agriculture decreased from 68.8 percent to 62 percent. Given the rising urban and industrial demand for water and the impact of climate change, the share of water used in farming is likely to decrease further. Because of the political and social importance of food security in China, adequate investment to ensure that rural areas and farms get enough water has been a priority for the government.

China has been hugely successful in managing its scare water resources, and in achieving food security and rapid economic development. But its inadequate water conservancy infrastructure could compromise economic development and social stability, especially because the inadequate water infrastructure in rural areas has affected the growth of agricultural production and thus food security.

Investments by the central and local governments in these areas have been insufficient over the past decades. Extreme weather, which causes floods, mudslides and drought, has become more frequent, and the lack of necessary water infrastructure has aggravated the loss.

China's eight wheat-growing provinces were under a four-month dry spell in 2010-2011, the longest in decades, affecting 35 percent of wheat crops, 2.81 million people and 2.57 million heads of livestock. About 100 million people in rural areas still don't have access to safe drinking water. Rural non-point source pollution, caused by fertilizer and pesticide runoffs, has become a major environmental issue in the country according to the first National General Survey of Pollution Sources, conducted by the Ministry of Environment Protection between 2007 and 2010.

Noticeably, the central government's No 1 document this year was on water conservancy reform and development. The central government is set to invest 4 trillion yuan ($612.23 billion) in water conservancy over the next 10 years and has requested local governments to set aside 10 percent of their revenue from land sale for water conservancy projects.