The Status of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in China: An Investigation of the Songhua River in China

Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) is a system that manages all the various uses of water collectively. It has been used successfully in many western nations. The concept is not new in China, where rivers have historically been treated in a holistic manner; however, events in the last century have altered that treatment strategy. Many people believe that IWRM would help China because it would balance the unevenly distributed water resources. It has had positive results in the West and is beginning to have positive results in the East. In fact, the International Water Management institute has recognized China as a leader in Asia for adapting Western IWRM concepts. The Asian Development Bank believes that China's Songhua River would benefit from IWRM through initiating sustained commitment from stakeholders (ADB, 2006). Considering their research, I believe that there has been a failure to take China's socio-political state into account when suggesting an implementation of IWRM in the Songhua River Basin. In fact, the Global Water Partnership has published 3 critical requirements for a successful implementation of IWRM: 1) An enabling environment of appropriate policies, participatory processes and international cooperation, 2) Appropriately designated roles of institutions and stakeholder groups 3) The tools to manage, which involve regulation, monitoring, and enforcement—all of which ultimately provide sound information for decision-makers. I intend to show, by examining China's current socio-political landscape against the above 3 requirements, that China is not ready to implement IWRM in any successful way. Until IWRM can be adapted to China's political landscape or their political landscape changes, IWRM is not a viable option.