Water Resources Management Legal System Innovation Research

Water is the origin of life, the essence of production and the basis of ecology. Great population, scarcity of water resources and uneven spatial and temporal distribution of water resources remain the basic national and water resources situation. China is faced with sever water resources situation with ever increasing water resources scarcity, water pollution and water ecology deterioration, which has become a bottleneck restricting sustainable socio-economic development. To this end, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council clearly required the implementation of the most stringent water resources management system. Generally speaking, this system is still on the policy level. In order to achieve the objectives laid out in this system, we should ultimately resort to the building and implementation of legal system, because laws play an irreplaceable role in finding way out of the water crisis. Therefore, it is imperative that we comprehensively analyze the institutional innovation of this system form the legal perspective, find out hidden pitfalls, and propose targeted countermeasures and suggestions. This dissertation focuses on innovative study of the legal system of water resources management, thus having profound theoretical and practical significance.Apart from Introduction and Conclusion, there are altogether seven chapters.Chapter one is "Basic Problems of Water Resource Management". This chapter first summarizes and introduces the concepts of water resources, water resources management, and features and current situations of water resources management. On this basis, this chapter then discusses theoretical basis of water management, including the theory of sustainable development, modern property rights theory, the theory of externalities, new institutional economics theory as well as the free-rider theory. This dissertation proposes that in the field of water resources development and utilization, various social goals should be taken into account and coordinated and we should pay special attention to ten elements, namely reliable supply, reasonable price, economic viability, social acceptability, environmental friendliness, promoting equalization of basic public services, water use improvement, innovation of institutional mechanisms, promoting regional cooperation, and poverty elimination.Chapter two is titled "Formation and Development of the Most Stringent Water Resources Management System". This chapter introduces the most stringent water management system. It first reviews the evolution history of this system, and then analyzes background of its issuance in terms of the need of institutional reform, the strategic position of water conservancy, land management as well as the practical experience of energy saving and emission reduction. It is followed by a summarization of the introduction, issuance and development, as well as a comprehensive discussion of the most stringent water management system itself, its characteristics and significance. This chapter presents problems of the whole dissertation, and lays the foundation for analysis and problem-solving of the upcoming chapters.Chapter three to Chapter five focus on study of legal issues of the most stringent water resources management system. The dissertation analyzes and studies "Three Red Lines", referring to total water utilization control, water use efficiency control and pollution bearing limit of water functioning zones respectively from which the features of this system are condensed into "enhancement","coordination" and "integration". The writing style of these three chapters is basically consistent, which are as follows:first, basic content of various systems, including their concepts, management systems, basis for work, foreign and local practical experience and enlightenment, are summarized and discussed; second, a comprehensive analysis of the main content and innovation of various systems is carried out in combination of the analysis of existing legal provisions, followed by a summary and reflection of the main problems of various systems.Chapter six serves as a study of legal issues of water resources management responsibilities and assessment system. Presented in this chapter is that water resources management responsibilities and assessment system is a guarantee system and acts as constrain and supervisor of the previous three systems with "breakthrough" being its characteristics. The dissertation analyzes and summarizes the current evaluation system for officials and the relevant provisions of laws and regulations, refines and draws on the practical experience of other sectors and localities, based on which a comprehensive analysis of the content of water resources management responsibilities and assessment system is presented, in order to find out its inadequacies.Chapter seven commits itself to policy recommendations for improving the most stringent water resources management system, which is a major theoretical innovation of China's national and water resources conditions, and which is also in keeping with natural laws of water resources and system setting of its governance principles. However, there still exist problems such as inadequacies in private law designing, lack of judicial protection system, etc. With the aim of solving water resources crisis of China and further reforming and improving the most stringent water resources management system, this chapter proposes eight systemic countermeasures and suggestions based on previous analysis, which are as follows:incorporating the system as a basic national policy, improving legal system, innovating management system, strengthening law enforcement, participating into macro regulation, unleashing the power of the market, enhancing public participation, etc.