Research On Prevention And Control Of Water Pollution In Liangzi Lake Based On The Cross-boundary Governance Theory

With the gradual increase of public affairs, complicated public issues which are often cross-sectoral, trans-regional and even trans-boundary have been dramatically emerged contemporarily. It can be difficult to deal with those problems with the limited capacity of simply one sector or region. The emergence and development of cross-boundary governance theory bring a brand-new research perspective and effective way of governance.The cross-boundary governance is a continuous process that the government, private sector, non-profit organizations and the public collaborate closely as partners to governance based on mutual trust for the purpose of dealing with public affairs and social problems in cross sectors, regions and boundaries by utilizing laws and regulations, public policies, norms and standards, dialogue and cooperation etc.As a universal problem, the prevention and control of water pollution has been an urgent issue in China. Located in the central region of Wuhan City Circle, Liangzi Lake is the second largest freshwater lake in Hubei province and national top ten in China. The lake has larger water storage capacity than any other lakes of Hubei province. Liangzi Lake which mainly locates in Liangzihu District of Ezhou City and Jiangxia District of Wuhan City flows through17towns and339villages in four cities of Wuhan, Huangshi, Ezhou and Xianning. The prevention and control of water pollution of Liangzi Lake is a typical public issue related to various departments, regions and fields. In recent years, the government of Hubei province and the other four cities have adopted active measures and several achievements have been obtained. However, there is still a long and arduous way to go for the threat of worsening environment of the lake.Based on the systematically describing cross-boundary governance theory, this paper elaborates the current situation of prevention and control of water pollution in Liangzi Lake and further analyzes the reasons why it is a tough task. The paper researches on related cases of water protection both home and abroad and then puts forward several suggestions to solve the cross-boundary problem. The logic of the paper follows as "situation-reason-countermeasure". The paper analyzes the problems and the causes of governance subjects, government credibility and collaborative governance based on the case study of Liangzi Lake. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates some path choices to deal with cross-realm public affairs and issues.The paper consists of five chapters besides introduction and conclusion. The logic structure is as follows:The introduction part of paper presents the meaning of the research, literature review, research targets and methods, main contents and the possible innovations.In the first chapter, the paper elaborates the theoretical basis of the prevention and control of water pollution in Liangzi Lake. Firstly, it defines the concept of cross-boundary governance and analyzes its origins and application. Then, the paper introduces the prevention and control of water pollution in Liangzi Lake and thus points out that it is a public issue which relates to cross areas, departments and fields. Finally, it explains the relationship between the practice of water pollution control in Liangzi Lake and theory of cross-boundary governance. Although bureaucracy management and market mechanism play a positive role in the prevention and control of water pollution,"government failure" and "market failure" still exist. The problem cannot be solved simply relying on those tools. Only if cross-boundary governance and multiple governing instruments are involved can good governance be achieved.In the second chapter, the paper comprehensively discusses the realistic situation of water pollution control in Liangzi Lake. First of all, it reviews the water pollution control process of Liangzi Lake. The process can be divided into three stages according to the degree of attention and control effect, namely decentralized governance, focused governance and comprehensive governance. Second, this chapter summarizes the main approach of water pollution control in Liangzi Lake. The local governments of four related cities and departments of provincial government have adopted quick and effective measures for the water pollution control in Liangzi Lake. Local laws, administrative rules and regulations have been formulated accordingly. Public media have played the role as supervisor to report follow-ups. Lastly, this paper points out the problems existing in the prevention and control of water pollution in Liangzi Lake, including severe water pollution, unreached agreements among various local governments, difficult to implement unified management functions and the shortage of regional cooperation mechanism.In the third chapter, the paper analyzes the causes of the problems existing in the prevention and control of water pollution in Liangzi Lake. The causes of the problems should be viewed in the context of social background and analyzed from the perspective of cross-boundary governance. There are three major causes. Firstly, governance subject is single. The local government holds the leading position and plays a decisive role in the process. However, other governance subjects, such as private sector, non-profit organizations, and the public haven’t functioned well in the process. Secondly, the credibility in governance subjects isn’t high enough. The collected effort of various governance subjects is grounded on mutual trust and good partnership which unfortunately have not been founded. Thirdly, cooperation mechanism among governance subjects is not enough. Lacking motivation mechanism, local governments are always reluctant to cooperate with other subjects. Moreover, local governments enjoy an absolute leading position in the relationship with non-profit organizations. The inequality results in the insufficient cooperation mechanism between governments and non-profit organizations. The cooperation mechanism between governments and the public is also far from enough.In the fourth chapter, the paper sums up experience of cross-boundary water pollution control from home and abroad. First, this chapter chooses Taihu Lake, Chaohu Lake and Dianchi Lake for analysis. In order to control Taihu Lake water pollution, the state council convened two conferences to address on the emergency, and established the system of departmental joint conference. The governments of Jiangsu and Zhejiang province had convened several meetings to make arrangements which related departments could follow. Five cities" Political Consultative Conference Committees around Taihu Lake held meetings to offer suggestions for the management of Taihu Lake. The state council and Jiangsu, Zhejiang province launched regulations to control water pollution. In order to control water pollution in Chaohu Lake, Anhui province formed and implemented Chaohu Lake Water Pollution Prevention Act; Hefei city established related work plan; Chaohu city formulated and implemented Chaohu Ecocity Construction Plan to carry out water pollution control; Hefei and Chaohu’s leaders held meetings with municipal Political Consultative Conference Committees of Hefei, Chaohu, Liuan, Tongcheng and Huainan cities. In order to control water pollution in Dianchi Lake, Yunnan province and Kunming city developed and implemented Dianchi Management Regulations and established Dianchi Administration Department as well as seven long-term mechanisms; various environmentalist groups also involved in the action. Meanwhile, the chapter selected Lake Biwa in Japan and the Great Lakes in North America as typical cases for study. In the process of water pollution control of Lake Biwa in Japan, the government formulated and implemented a series of laws, policies. Lake and water quality protection plan had also been implemented. The public participated in the whole process of water pollution. The United States and Canada not only spared their own effort separately to combat the Great Lakes water pollution, but also jointly developed and implemented a series of agreements. Several non-profit organizations had been set up for trans-boundary coordination, aiming at promoting the water pollution control. The last part of this chapter summarizes the experience of cross-boundary water pollution control both home and abroad:first, simply depending on the government to play a leading role is not enough to prevent and control water pollution. Various other subjects such as non-profit organizations and the public should be involved in. Second, Non-profit organization is a critical part of controlling lake water pollution. Third, the public participation is an important guarantee for lake water pollution control. Fourth, Cooperation and coordination mechanisms directly affect the lake water pollution.In the fifth chapter, the paper puts forward some suggestions to cross-boundary water pollution control in Liangzi Lake. Above all, multiple governance subjects should be obtained. All governance subjects especially local governments must change their minds to establish partnership with other governance subjects and comprehensively use various governance tools to function together. Second, new governance subjects should be cultivated. In the case of Liangzi Lake, the priority is to foster business, non-profit organizations and the public. Only by increasing the number of these subjects can they play the role in water pollution control. Third, partnership among various governance subjects should be established. Local governments must build partnership with businesses, non-profit organizations and the public. Meanwhile, Businesses, non-profit organizations, the public should build partnership among each other. Fourth, various governance tools should be comprehensively utilized. There are four cross-boundary governance tools namely laws and regulations, public policies, norms and standards, dialogue and cooperation, each of which has advantages. The integrated use of these four governance tools can be conductive to the intended purpose of water pollution control and ecological environment protection.Finally, the paper gives a conclusion of the analysis and shows a visionary picture of further research.