Legal Mechanizms For Chinese Water Demand Management

Water resources are facing many problems, such as over exploitation,increased pollution and serious waste. In this context, the concept of waterdemand management came with the tide of fashion. For the research ofwater demand management, some foreign scholars have launched fulldiscussion. Domestic scholars to discuss water demand management is stillin development stage, and most discussions are more concentrated in waterscience.Establishing effective legal mechanisms is particularly important forwater demand management. In the relatively well established legalmechanisms for water demand management, it generally includes threetypes of mechanisms: administrative regulation mechanism, economicregulation and control mechanism, and social self-control mechanism.Administrative regulation mechanism reflects the government’s coercivepower; economic regulation and control mechanism reflects the autonomyof the market; social self-control mechanism expresses the willingness ofpublic. The three legal mechanisms of water demand management betteradapt to the condition of our country, and provide legal support for waterdemand management.In2002,“Water Law of the People’s Republic of China” waspromulgated. In this context, the concept of water demand management isintegrated into the China’s legislation gradually, to form China’s existinglegal mechanisms for water demand management. In China, Administrativeregulation mechanism includes water resource planning system, waterdistribution system, water permit system and so on; economic regulationand control mechanisms includes water price system, water rights tradingsystem, ecological compensation system and so on; social self-controlmechanism includes public participation system, establishment of self-organization and so on. These legal systems have been enforced, andwithin the limits permitted by law, many places are carrying out innovativepractices, and have summarized a lot of valuable experience.Summarized the implementation of legal mechanisms for Chinesecurrent water demand management, the success is to establish a relativelycomplete legal system, to encourage local government to carry outinnovative practices, and to form a more comprehensive water resourcesmanagement system. The problems are that legislation and legal executionbetween central and local is lack of effective cooperation, effectivecoordination mechanism is lack between the various administrativedepartments, the confusion of right and power leads to power constraintmechanism not perfect, public participation in the water demandmanagement is not enough, legislation and implementation is lack ofadequate scientific research and demonstration, and law can’t be evaluatedin time.To solve the problems that have emerged, this paper puts forwardsound proposals on administrative regulation mechanism, economicregulation and control mechanism, and social self-control mechanism. Itshould re-integration of the existing legal system of water demandmanagement, improving the central and local legislation; it should improvethe legal evaluation system, to supervise the legislation and legalimplementation; it should strengthen the constraints on government power,define responsibilities of various departments clearly, establishinstitutionalized administrative coordination mechanism; it should full playthe guiding role of the market, establish a flexible pricing mechanism; onthe basis of water rights, it should further develop water rights tradingsystem, advance the water trading practices, to make it legalization andinstitutionalization; it should encourage the investment of social capital,improve public participation system, and encourage the development ofsocial organizations, given their proper legal status and rights, so public cantruly participate in the process of water demand management.