Water Working Group III
Water Conflict Resolution in the United States and China
Water is for Fighting
The contentious nature of managing water resources is summed up aptly in a quote attributed to Mark Twain: Whisky is for drinkin’ and water is for fightin.’ While whisky is not the libation of choice in China, water is certainly a resource over which Chinese government bureaus, provinces, cities, villages, and farmers fight.
Conflicts and problems over water have increased in number and severity throughout China over the past twenty 20 years as a result of burgeoning water demand, inefficient use of existing resources, and increasing levels of water pollution. While the Western press has frequently reported on conflicts over large-scale water projects in China—from the Three Gorges Dam that will force the displacement of close to 1.9 million people to the new project diverting water from the Yangtze River Basin to the dry north with potentially negative impacts on the environment and the lives of relocated people—inter-provincial and smaller scale water conflicts are actually more ubiquitous and impact more people.
The United States also faces growing water conflicts—such as disputes arising out of the damming of the Colorado and Columbia Rivers, the intergovernmental and interagency conflicts arising out of the project to restore the Florida Everglades, and the unsustainable drawdowns of rivers, lakes, and groundwater aquifers to quench the thirst of growing southwestern cities. In addition to water quantity disputes, cities, farms, industries, and land developers increasingly clash with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over limits to water use as part of enforcing the Endangered Species Act and steps to toughen water quality standards. One of the major sources of the latter type conflict appeared in 2000 when the EPA tightened the standards for total maximum daily load of pollutants permissible in water bodies.
Seeking Solutions
In the United States, state-level water courts are usually the arenas for intra-state water use conflict resolution, while interstate conflicts are adjudicated by the Supreme Court or investigated by a Supreme Court appointed Special Water Master. These court cases can last years or even decades, so beginning in the 1980s, disputants began turning to alternative conflict resolution methods (e.g., mediation, negotiated rulemaking, arbitration) in water and other environmental conflicts. Professional environmental mediators and associations, water basin commissions, nongovernmental organizations, and community groups have become involved in creating solutions and prevention mechanisms for water conflicts.
Environmental laws in China increasingly allow victims of pollution and natural resource degradation to seek compensation in the courts. Larger water disputes (among villages, cities, and provinces) are often resolved by the central government in an ad hoc, case-by-case fashion. In China mediation techniques are commonly used in marital and civil disputes and arbitration centers address business disputes, but no formal institute or private organization exists to provide third-party mediators for environmental disputes. Notably, policymakers and researchers in China currently are evaluating the utility of water markets and clarifying water rights as ways to prevent conflicts.
While the governmental and nongovernmental sectors in the United States are experimenting with institutions, regulations, and other mechanisms to encourage alternative methods of solving environmental and water conflicts, both the United States and China need to seek stronger water conflict resolution institutions that produce:
- Faster resolution of water conflicts;
- More creative, satisfying and enduring solutions;
- Reduced transaction costs;
- Improved working relationships among public, private and citizen stakeholders; and,
- Increased stakeholder support for government water management and protection programs.
Exploring Water Conflict Resolution in the United States and China
In light of the common water challenges, ECSP created the Water Conflict Resolution in the United States and China working group within the Navigating Peace initiative. This water working group (WWG) aims to promote information-sharing, facilitate debates, present policy options, and, most importantly, build networks on common water conflict problems, which could help lay a foundation for increased cooperation between the United States and China on water issues.
For example, while the federal and state governments in the United States have considerable experience in dealing with water use and water rights disputes in arid regions, they increasingly face water quality conflicts stemming from agricultural runoff and population pressures. China has been dealing with severe water quality conflicts much longer and could offer important insights to their U.S. counterparts while benefiting from American expertise in mediation and integrated water basin management.
This WWG is made up of eight individuals (four from each country) and over the course of 18 months they will be participating in three study tour meetings and a final wrap up session in Washington, DC. At each study tour location (Tucson, Arizona; Beijing, China; and Washington, DC) the group will meet with government agencies, legal experts, NGOs, and researchers who specialize in water and natural resource conflict issues to explore water conflict problems and resolution strategies in both countries. In pairs, the group will conduct and produce four research papers, which will be published later in a book. Wilson Center staff will use research and discussions from each of the tours to create a 40-page policy brief, which will be distilled into smaller 16- and 2-page briefs to be distributed to policy communities in the United States and China.
Working Group Event Agendas
Water Conflict Resolution in the U.S. and China Study Tour in Tucson Agenda
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Speech by Mr. Mutsuyoshi Nishimura Ambassador for Global Environment
Ambassador Nishimura delivered this speech at Workshop on the Kyoto Third World Water Forum "Water From Johannesburg to Kyoto and Beyond"(02/12/03)
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Working Group Meetings
Water Conflict Resolution in China
Featuring Ma Jun, Sinosphere; Wang Xuejun, Beijing University; Yu Xiubo, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resource Research
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