Can interbasin water transfer affect water consumption and pollution? Lessons from China's South–North water transfer project

Abstract

AbstractInterbasin water transfer has become a means by which countries around the world solve the problem of water shortage. Moreover, interbasin water transfers may also stimulate stronger controls over water pollution control in water‐receiving areas. However, most existing literature fails to examine the impacts of interbasin water transfers on water consumption and pollution from the perspective of the complex entanglement between human activities and environmental change. In order to respond to this research gap, this study establishes an improved human–environment model that considers the impacts of interbasin water transfer, and uses data about China's South–North Water Transfer Project to empirically study the temporal and spatial effects of interbasin water transfers. The results show that interbasin water transfer not only fails to improve water consumption in water‐receiving cities but also further restricts residents' water use due to the high water price caused by this project. Furthermore, interbasin water transfers also fail to reduce water pollution in water‐receiving cities—levels of water pollution depend more on external environmental policies. These results have some implications for understanding the interbasin water transfers in authoritarian states: although interbasin water transfers do not affect water consumption and pollution, authoritarian states can maintain and consolidate their political legitimacy by gaining public trust through interbasin water transfers.