Planned water use system in China

Abstract

The basic water resources management system in China is a planned water use system which plays a very important role in managing the country's water resources. This paper describes the water resources allocation framework, which is the basis of the planned water use system framework in China. The planned water use system is developed to manage real-time water resources development and utilization, implemented through a series of water resources use plans, including annual water resources regulation plans, annual water abstraction plans and annual/seasonal water use plans at different spatial levels. Both technically and managerially, the planned water use system in China requires the establishment of spatial, temporal and water resource consistencies. Using the Yellow River as a case study, this paper demonstrates the application of the system at three levels in the basin. Finally, combined with the implementation progress, the paper provides recommendations to promote and improve planned water use system implementation in China.