The Studies On Water Environment Manegement Mechanisms For Long Term Effects In Taihu Lake Basin

Water environmental protection in the Taihu Lake catchment has been in a serious and complex situation during the past years, which remains an emergent, task-forcing and short-term intensive control solution as the common situation in China. Environmental protection agencies of the government are kept very busy and tired of such low efficient actions without long term effects.Water environmental management is a task of multi-dimensions related institutions, mechanisms, policies and other instruments. This thesis considers mechanisms are the extension and improvement of institutions. Water environmental management mechanisms for long term effects may help the weakness of the existing institutions. The Taihu Lake is the third largest one in China, and its catchment area is one of the most important economic centers. The rapid growth in social-economics has caused huge water pollution of the lake that suffers decreasing of water quality a grade in every decade. People in the region are exposed in great threat and risk in term of both basic life quality and health. Large inputs of financial resources, however, failed to stop the pollution and degradation of lake water environment. Based on analysis of current institutions and mechanisms of water environmental management, the thesis proposed a design framework of long term effects. From three perspective of cross-section/multi-departments cooperation, catchment management and regional management, the institution of water environmental management in the Taihu Lake regions was studied with focus on analysis of relations between central government and local ones, relations between local ones, and that between local government and its environmental departments as well as other stakeholders. Five shortcomings were identified, they are:functional overlaps and confuse of related governmental administration departments; government's over-pursuing of GDP; over competitions and less cooperation/coordination between neighboring governments at same level; less open and too much care about its interests of individual governmental department; and poor efficiency. Targeting these five weaknesses and based on their origin analysis, five corresponding mechanisms were formulated and proposed:department cooperation mechanism, regional coordination mechanism, enhancement mechanism of environmental protection department capacity, mechanism of public participation and mechanism for competition and incentive, with which the mechanism system was preliminarily established for long term effects of water environmental protection in the Taihu Lake catchment aiming to improve the pollution control and water environmental protection.