Issues, Challenges, and Cooperation in Transboundary Waters
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Transcript of Issues, Challenges, and Cooperation in Transboundary Waters
Daming He Daming He Daming He Daming He AIRC, Yunnan University, ChinaAIRC, Yunnan University, ChinaAIRC, Yunnan University, ChinaAIRC, Yunnan University, China
Issues, Challenges, and Cooperation
in Transboundary Waters
Between China and Africa
Workshop on Transboundary Water Management: Orange-Senqu and
Zambezi Basins, Johannesburg, South Africa , 29-30 April, 2014
�Diverse but common challenges we are facing on
�Diverse but common TWR issues we have to solute
�Diverse but different advantages we could share each other
�Diverse but common interests we could cooperate each other
China-Africa
Diverse but common challenges we are facing on
�As developing countries: how to balance the
development and conservation?
� As the monsoon-driving-ecosystem countries: how to
adapt the climate change?
�As the riparian countries sharing diverse international
waters: how to strength the multiple geo-cooperation
and solute the transboundary issues?
�As the long-friendship countries: how to facilitate and
update the transboundary water cooperation, from
basins, countries, regions, to global?
� ……
We face on
the high water
pressure.
Asia is the
world’s most
water-stressed
continent (UNEP
2009).
We share many international rivers, but the
transboundary issues in China are much
more complex.
Most of the great rivers originate from its central
mountains and flow from China into the Pacific, the
Indian Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean (Chinese Geological
Surveying Bureau, 2012).
(Wo
lf Aaro
n, 2
009)
Daming He1*, Ruidong Wu1, Yan Feng1, Yungang Li1, Chengzhi Ding1,
Wenling Wang1, and Douglas W. Yu2,3*((((2014-04-20))))
China’s
transboundary
waters: New
paradigms for
water and
ecological
security through
applied ecology
research
� Response of key ecological elements (runoff, sediment, water
quality, bio-community) to climate changes.
� Regional storming and transboundary flooding
� Water quality change and transboundary water pollution
� International Watercourse change and migration fish
ecosystem health
� International water laws’ revision and improvement
� Regional hydro-political issue of
Vulnerability Assessment and Management of Transboundary
Resources
� Conflicts and solution of Transboundary water
We are facing on environmental issues under the
climate change and human activities driving as the
economic fast development.
The upstream region of the international rivers, mainly
locating in West China, is the key area for Asian water
security and ecology security.
“Asia’s lifeblood”( Sophie le Clue,February 9, 2012)
� The third pole on the earth
� The “Asian Water Tower”
� The Lifeline for almost one-third of humanity in the world
� The Ecological Buffer between the North and South Asia
� The “Asia’s lifeblood”
The major transboundary issues of international
rivers in Southwest China
Degradation of river
ecosystem
Regional serious
soil erosion
Pattern changes in
wetland ecosystem
Environmental
degradation in mining
areas
River sedimentation
Region environmental
change
Damage to effect of
hydropower projectsWater shortage of mountain
environment
Biodiversity descend
Transboundary hydrological
regime changes
Damage to ecosystem
Transboundary flood
hazard
Watercourse fragmentation
Transboundary impact
of environmental change
River water quality worsen
Transboundary water
pollution
The conflicts of
transboundary
resources / ecology
Construction of the main
international passage
Geo-cooperation and
environmental diplomacy
The construction of cross-
border economic
corridors
Regional energy
cooperation
International treaties /
agreements
1980-2006::::The percentage of persons impacted by water problems
Among 2.6 billion people who have not enough security water supply in the world,,,,2.5 billion in Asia and Africa, but about 2.0 billion in Asia
( Source: WHO/UNICEF, 2010)
Diverse but common TWR issues we have to solute
� How to allocate and utilize TWR equitably and
reasonably
� How to assess transboundary impact of TWR
development
� How to manage transboundary water resources
(TWR) coordinately among riparian countries
� How to prevent and solve the conflict of TWR:
sharing the benefit and responsibility equitably
� How to facilitate the participation for all
stakeholders of riparian countries
Surface water quality in 10 river systems regions and 26 major lakes as of 2011.
Chinese Rivers are labeled with bars
representing the distribution of water
quality based on monitoring results in each
river system, while water quality of major
lakes is labeled with filled circles and total
water resources is labeled with scale drop.
In China, water quality is broken into five
categories that can be described as ‘‘good’’
(Grades I, II, and III) or ‘‘poor’’ (Grades IV
and V or V+, which cannot support
drinking). Grades represent official water
quality classifications based on China’s
Surface Water Environmental Quality
Standard as reported by the Ministry of
Environmental Protection of the People’s
Republic of China. (Data Sources: Ministry
of Environmental Protection of the
People’s Republic of China. June 6, 2012.
http://jcs.mep.gov.cn/hjzl/zkgb/2011zkgb/2
01206/t20120606_231040.htm. The
Ministry of Water Resources of the
People’s Republic of China. December 17,
2012.
Source: Daming He*, Ruidong Wu, Douglas W Yu, Yan Feng, Yungang
Li, Chengzhi Ding and Wenling Wang, 2013. Towards transboundary water
and ecological security for international rivers in China
Diverse but different advantages we could share
each other
�TWR management: Africa China
� International Cooperative mechanism:
�……..
� Integrated development and management of river basin:
China Africa
�Hydropower development and eco-risk management:
China Africa
�…….
Africa China
Sharing the experiences and technologies of irrigated
agriculture development from Asian to Africa
�China owns 16.7%%%% of the world’s total avainable
hydrulic enegy resources, and is ranked in the first
�China’s installed capacity of hydropiwer has been also
ranked in the first in the world since 2004
““““The World Hydropwer is in Chna,,,,
China’s Hydropower is in its southwest great rivers!”
Sharing the experiences and technologies of
hydropower development from Asian to Africa
Th
e D
am
s in
Ch
ina
The major Advances for River Health
Maintaining in the Upper Mekong
the first integrated controlling system for fish
ecosytem health in the upper Mekong under
the cascade daming
� Canceling one cascade
dam
� Building the fish
Facilities
� Pumping at different
water levels
� Cascade operating based
the eco-security demand
� Establishing the fish
protected area
� Lowering the dams
height
� Developing the fish
hatchery
� Babi fish releasing
Migrating corridor protection
Fishery resources proliferation
Water temperature regulating
Habitat protection(natural nerves)
Diverse but common interests we could
cooperate each other
�Information, knowledge and technologies sharing
�Cooperative researches
�Capacity building
�Scholarship, education, and training
�Exchange and workshops
�….
�Environmental Change and
Ecosystem Services will
address upstream-
downstream relationships
�These changes impact on
entire river basins and
beyond, regionally and
globally
�Today we know that
adaptation to climate change
and the long-term and
equitable use of scarce
resources needs a regional,
transboundary approach April 2008
The Experience from World Bank for Benefits Cooperation
Four Types of Benefits (Dr. Claudia Sadoff, 2010)
Improved productivity,
flood & drought
management
Improved ecosystem
sustainability, conservation
& water quality
Policy shift to cooperation
& development
Broader regional
cooperation &
integration
Type 1: Environmental
Increasing Benefits To the river
Type 2: Economic
Increasing Benefits From the river
Type 3: Political
Decreasing Costs Because of the river
Type 4: Indirect Economic
Increasing Benefits Beyond the river
Sadoff & Grey, 2002
� River ecosystem pattern and coupling
relationship
� Chain structural characteristics and ecological
effect chain of river continuum
� Change characteristics and regional differences
of river ecological process
� Change trend of river ecological process
(1) Pattern and change trend of river ecological process
Some major topics suggesting for cooperative
research
� Response of key ecological elements (runoff,
sediment, water quality, bio-community) to climate
changes.
� Response of key ecological elements to regional
human activity driving
� Relationship among solid water (glaciers), river
flow and climate changes.
� Regional response of river ecological process to
the impacts of climate changes and human
activities.
(2) Regional response of river ecological
process to climate changes
(3) Multi-scale effect of river ecological changes
� Changes of river ecological process and its integrity
conservation
� Changes of major ecological service function and
ecological water requirement
� Change of ecological process and hazard chain
� Runoff change and the security of water resources
and hydropower energy
River system fragmentation,
watercourse ecological process
and its impacts?
Ecological effect and impacts
of large scale dams
construction in mountain area?
Regional water cycle process
and impacts as environment
changes under the large-scale
cascade development?
River valley ecosystem
conservation under the
climate change and dams
construction?
(4) Transboundary impacts of
river ecological changes
� Transboundary impacts of sediment change
� Transboundary impacts of runoff change
� Regional storming and transboundary flooding
� Water quality change and transboundary water
pollution
� Impacts of river ecological changes to the
transboundary migration fish ecosystem
� Watercourse change and border demarcation
uncertainties
(5) Maintenance of river health and regulating
mechanism of transboundary ecological security
� Key ecological threshold and evaluation base of
river health
� Standards of sharing water resources and benefits
allocation (Quantifiable indexes system)
� Model system of transboundary water resources
allocation (Different watercourse type, regional
environment and cooperation region)
� Regional variation and key influencing factors of
transboundary ecological security issues
� Regulating mechanism and adaptive strategies
(Different regional environment and cooperation
region)
� Need the new law’s articles for “common but different
duty ” to share the benefits and cost equitably between
upstream and downstream
� Need the trans-boundary environmental compensation
mechanism to facilitate the regional development equity
(1) Regional development equity should
added in international rivers laws
The key suggestion we could cooperate to
facilitate more fair mechanism
development for transboundary waters
(2) Trans-boundary environmental
compensation mechanism should be
established
It has been recently apprehended from an
environmental and even ecological point of view IR
treaties has to be conceived in an interdisciplinary
and multisectorial context because its related features
involve, for instance, environment, health, agriculture,
economy, law or policies
� Identify the key items/index of benefits and cost
from economic development, ecological security,
and geo-politics cooperation
� Assess the getting and losing from the cooperation
among riparian countries
� Establish the trans-boundary environmental
compensation mechanism to facilitate the regional
development equity
� Negotiate the clear rules
Wish the workshop and our cooperation in
future could reduce adverse transboundary
impacts and preventing conflicts in
international rivers, by facilitating informed
decision-making for transboundary waters
and eco-security decisions in China, Africa,
Asia, and the world.
Thank You!!!!