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WATER POLITICS

Courtesy of Managing the Dragon, a report on China’s water scarcity:

As China’s already large economy continues to industrialize, the country’s growing thirst for oil has been well documented. Many believe, however, that water, not necessarily oil, may ultimately prove to be the most valuable liquid in the Chinese economy. While a rich country can buy oil from the global marketplace, and it is economic to ship oil virtually anywhere, water is another story. In most cases, a country must learn to live with and survive on its own water resources. In this context, water scarcity is not just a China issue; it’s a matter of concern for all of the world’s developing countries.

Within the next 50 years, the world population will increase by another 40 to 50 percent. This population growth — coupled with industrialization and urbanization in developing markets like China, India and Africa — will result in an increasing demand for water. The World Water Council, founded in 1996 to promote awareness, build political commitment and trigger action on critical water issues, notes on its website that more than one out of six people (1.1 billion) in the world already lack access to safe drinking water, and that more than two out of six (2.6 billion) lack adequate sanitation.Due to population increases and increased per capita usage of water as a result of lifestyle changes, the proportion of water needed for human use is increasing.

China’s water issues are particularly acute. The country’s water supply is smaller than that of the U.S., yet it must meet the needs of a population nearly five times as large. Industrialization has taken its toll on this already limited resource. Industrial and biological pollution has contaminated almost 90 percent of the underground water in Chinese cities. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one out of four (300 million) Chinese do not have daily access to clean water, and that one out of two (700 million) are forced to consume water below WHO standards. High population density, a poor ratio of available water to demand, and regional imbalances in available water supplies are serious challenges for China in managing its usable water supply. Frequent floods ravage cities in the south and east, and droughts are a regular occurrence in the north and west.

When China opened up in 1978, economic development was given first priority and little attention was paid to environmental considerations. At the beginning of this century, China began taking steps to mitigate the harmful environmental impact of its rapid economic development. Air quality was addressed first as the country began implementing tighter vehicle emissions standards and new environmental regulations. Although much has been done, the impact of 30 years of neglect has been considerable, as any visitor to China will attest. Those of us living here get used to suffering from periodic bouts of the “Beijing cough.”

In its 12th Five-Year Plan that began in 2011, China will shift its environmental focus to water. From 2011 to 2015, the country will spend a total of $536 billion on water purification and wastewater treatment plants, irrigation systems and flood control projects. Currently, only 50 percent of urban sewage is treated. By 2015, the government intends to add 42 million tons of daily sewage treatment capacity to increase its urban wastewater treatment rate to 85 percent.

In 2006, new safe drinking water standards were introduced that increase the water quality monitoring parameters from 35 to 106 items. Unfortunately, very few of China’s existing water purification plants can meet these higher water standards, so the law has not been rigorously enforced. Over the next five years, it is estimated that additional investment of RMB 220 billion (US$ 35 billion) will be needed to upgrade existing purification facilities and bring them into compliance.

Finally, a new regulation on Water Resources Utilization will limit the annual consumption of water to 635 billion cubic meters by 2015, further increasing the need for water recycling facilities. For this reason, China expects to spend $69 billion on industrial wastewater treatment. Because per capita water resources in China are only a quarter of the world’s average, and industrial water consumption constitutes a quarter of the country’s total water consumption, the recycling of deeply treated industrial wastewater is essential.

Implementation of the water related programs called for in the 12th five year plan has already begun. In 2011, the first year of the plan, total spending on water resources management increased significantly to RMB 345.2 billion ($54.6 billion). In addition to water treatment and recycling, China has already initiated programs to limit the loss of human life and property damage caused by flash floods. At the end of last year, RMB 3.8 billion ($603 million) was earmarked to subsidize flash-flood forecasting projects in 1,100 counties throughout the country. It is expected that the number of counties will be increased to 1,800 and that $1.8 billion will be spent on flash flood forecasting programs by 2013.

Although China is the second largest economy in the world, it is still in an embryonic stage of development. There are many product, technology and service gaps yet to be filled, each of which represents a new business opportunity. Helping China to quench its thirst for water appears to be one of them — and a big one at that.