Abstract
Despite having explored various modes of water management over the past three decades, the water crisis persists and the Chinese government has been required to revolutionize river management from the top down. The River Chief System (RCS), which evolved from small scale, local efforts to manage rivers starting in 2007, is an innovative system that coordinates between existing ‘fragmented’ river/lake management and pollution control systems, to clearly define the responsibilities of all concerned departments. The system was promoted from an emergent policy to nationwide action in 2016, and ever since, has undergone steady development. We have analyzed recent developments in the system from the perspectives of functional expansion, implementation strategies, legislative processes, and public outreach after the full implementation of the RCS. By collecting data over the past several years, the changes in the water quality of representative watersheds in China were evaluated to assess the outcomes of RCS implementation. Finally, a summary of the weaknesses and outstanding problems of the system is presented, putting forward a multi-channel strategy for the long-term stability and effectiveness of river/lake chiefs, and promoting the RCS as a suitable solution to the collaborative and jurisdictional issues in water management in China.
Highlights
Collaborative governance is a core tenet of public management [1]
After the release of ‘the Opinions’ in 2016, the Chinese government has been increasing its efforts to promote the development of the River Chief System (RCS)
On November 20, 2017, the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and the State Council released ‘Guiding Opinions on the Implementation of the Lake Chief System (LCS) in Lakes’, and a general plan was made for the comprehensive implementation of both the RCS and LCS
Summary
Collaborative governance is a core tenet of public management [1]. Integrated water resources management (IWRM), largely developed during the 1990s, is the most common organizational approach used in river basin management. The Chinese government has utilized the IWRM approach since 1988, when its first Water Law was enacted. Based on a recent investigation by Wang and Chen, the inefficiency of the IWRM and the difficulty implementing it in China may be ascribed to factors including amorphous definition, operational difficulty, departmental conflicts, lack of authority in river basin management, and the political moral hazard that occurs when local governments are no longer solely responsible [4]. Struggling under a severe water crisis and the failure of IWRM, the Chinese government had to reform the water management system using a top-down design
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