Pricing or Quota? A Solution to Water Scarcity in Oasis Regions in China: A Case Study in the Heihe River Basin
Keywords
agricultural water usebio-economic model
water demand management
water price control
water quota
Environmental effects of industries and plants
TD194-195
Renewable energy sources
TJ807-830
Environmental sciences
Full record
Show full item recordAbstract
The conflict between increasing water demand and limited water resources has become a serious threat to oasis regions in China. Solutions to water scarcity have to curb overall water demands, especially reducing agricultural water use. Price control and quantitative control are the two most commonly applied policy instruments for water demand management. This paper used a bio-economic model (BEM) to examine the shadow price of water resources and to investigate farmers’ response to water demand management policies in water scarce regions based on a study in the Heihe River Basin in northwest China. The results indicate that farmers are not very responsive to changes in water price, because it is currently far below the shadow price of water resources in most irrigation zones. A reduction of agricultural water demand could occur only with a large rise in the water price. In comparison, a quantitative control measure is more effective at reducing water use. Concerning the effects on farm income, a price control will cost much more than a quantitative control to save the same volume of water. Hence, a water quota is a more suitable choice for the purpose of reducing agricultural water use, while minimizing farm income loss in the region of this case study.Date
2014-10-01Type
ArticleIdentifier
oai:doaj.org/article:c6cc38f204b6442796b7083f4edf2aef2071-1050
10.3390/su6117601
https://doaj.org/article/c6cc38f204b6442796b7083f4edf2aef
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Addressing China's Water
 Scarcity : Recommendations for Selected Water Resource
 Management IssuesWarford, Jeremy J.; Dixon, John A.; Jiang, Yong; Liebenthal, Andres; Gao, Shiji; Ma, Zhong; Wang, Shuilin; Wang, Manchuan; Xie, Jian (World Bank, 2012-03-19)This report reviews China's water
 scarcity situation, assesses the policy and institutional
 requirements for addressing it, and recommends key areas for
 strengthening and reform. It is a synthesis of the main
 findings and recommendations from analytical work and case
 studies prepared under the World Bank Analytical and
 Advisory Assistance (AAA) program entitled 'Addressing
 China's Water Scarcity: from Analysis to Action.'
 These studies focus on several strategically important
 thematic areas for China where additional research was
 needed, as identified by the research team and advisory
 group based on a review of pressing issues. These areas are
 governance, water rights, pricing, ecological compensation,
 pollution control, and emergency response. The approach has
 been to evaluate Chinese and international experience to
 identify policy and institutional factors that have proven
 effective in promoting the adoption of water conservation
 and pollution reduction technologies. The research was based
 on literature reviews, qualitative and quantitative policy
 analyses, household surveys, field trips, and case studies
 to develop feasible recommendations for a plan of action
 based on realities on the ground.
-
Toward Integrated Water Resources Management in ArmeniaYu, Winston; Lee, Ju Young; Cestti, Rita A. (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015)The proper management of water resources plays a key role in the socioeconomic development of Armenia. On average, Armenia has sufficient water resources. Taking into account all available water resources in the country, Armenia has sufficient resources to supply approximately 3,100 cubic meters per capita per year well above the typically cited Falkenmark water stress indicator of 1,700 cubic meters per capita per year. These water resources are not evenly divided in space and time with significant seasonal and annual variability in river runoff. In order to address temporal variations in river runoff, the country has built 87 dams with a total capacity of 1.4 billion cubic meters. Most of these dams are single purpose, mainly for irrigation. Armenia also has considerable groundwater resources, which play an important role in the overall water balance. About 96 percent of the water used for drinking purposes and about 40 percent of water abstracted in the country comes from groundwater. Irrigation remains the largest consumptive user.
-
China : Country Water Resources Assistance StrategyWorld Bank (Washington, DC, 2013-09-03)China has very serious water problems
 despite substantial economic development achievements,
 strong technical expertise, and political stability. But in
 terms of its potential and the critical pressing needs for
 water resources management, China could do much better in
 managing its water resources. The World Bank's
 assistance to China in water resources development and
 management in the past has tended to be reactive and
 downstream in the project cycle. However, this approach has
 significantly limited the potential benefits of Bank
 assistance to China which a more upstream approach, based on
 a strategic partnership, could provide. The overall
 strategic objective is to improve water resources
 management. This strategy paper identifies China's
 principal water resource challenges, what China is already
 doing, and how the Bank can assist in the future. The large
 size of the Bank's water portfolio and the urgency of
 the problems, demand a strategic framework for the
 Bank's support to China. In 2002, the Bank and the
 Chinese Government are cooperating on the evaluation of the
 last, and preparation of the new, country assistance
 strategy. In October 2002, China promulgated a new water
 law, has recently prepared a new five-year plan, and is
 updating the master plans for the major river basins. The
 Bank hopes it can assist China in improving its water
 resources management, and accelerate implementation of
 reforms through a shared Country Water Resources Assistance
 Strategy (CWRAS).