Adviser calls for water quota and pricing mechanisms

A senior national political adviser called for the introduction of volume-based quota and pricing mechanisms to enhance management of water consumption to address shortages.

Qu Fenghong, deputy secretary general of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the call in his speech during a plenary meeting of the country's top advisory body on Sunday.

"The contradiction between water supply and demand is stark," said Qu, who is also the vice-chairman of Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party.

About 600 billion cubic meters of water is consumed annually in China and the country is confronted with a shortage of 50 billion cubic meters a year, he added.

He also noted pollution in some of the rivers and the low efficiency in usage across the country.

In the Yellow, Haihe and Liaohe rivers, where resources have been highly developed and utilized, the water has been moderately or slightly polluted, he said.

Over 60 percent of water in the country is consumed in the agriculture sector. The water use efficiency in the sector, however, still lags far behind global advanced levels. Meanwhile, the country consumes 41.3 cubic meters of water for every 10,000 yuan ($1,403) of value added in the industrial sector, which is over two times global advanced levels, he noted.

The increase of human activity, together with climate change, has caused frequent and sharp changes in the runoff of many water bodies, leaving the ecological systems damaged, he said.

He suggested promoting supply side reform in water resources management and introducing a total volume-based quota system to address the problem.

Both consumption amount and the intensity should be brought under supervision to enhance conservation, he said.

While industrial structures and layout should be optimized based on the total water volume and carrying capacity of water bodies for pollutants, the market should play a bigger role in helping water conservation, he said.

The pricing mechanism for water resources should be reformed to make it reflect more the supply and demand, scarcity of water resources and water supplying costs, he added.