School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableHow coalitions of multiple actors advance policy in China: ecological agriculture at Danjiangkou(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2022-11-02)
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ItemFreshwater Supply to Metropolitan Shanghai: Issues of Quality from Source to Consumers(MDPI, 2019-10)Shanghai is experiencing drinking water supply problems that are caused by heavy pollution of its raw water supply, deficiencies in its treatment processes, and water quality deterioration in the distribution system. However, little attention has been paid these problems of water quality in raw water, water treatment, and household drinking water. Based on water quality data from 1979 to 2016, we show that microbes (TBC), eutrophication (TP, TN, and NH3–N), heavy metals (Fe, Mn, and Hg), and organic contamination (chemical oxygen demand (COD), detergent (Linear Alklybenzene Sulfonate, LAS), and volatile phenols (VP)) pollute the raw water sources of the Huangpu River and the Changjiang (Yangtze River) estuary. The average concentrations of these contaminants in the Huangpu River are almost double that of the Changjiang estuary, forcing a rapid shift to the Changjiang estuary for raw water. In spite of filtering and treatment, TN, NH3–N, Fe, COD, and chlorine maxima of the treated water and drinking water still exceed the Chinese National Standard. We determine that the relevant threats from the water source to household water in Shanghai are: (1) eutrophication arising from highly concentrated TN, TP, COD, and algal density in the raw water; (2) increasing salinity in the river estuary, especially at the Qingcaosha Reservoir (currently the major freshwater source for Shanghai); (3) more than 50% of organic constituents and by-products remain in treated water; and, (4) bacteria and turbidity increase in the course of water delivery to users. The analysis presents a holistic assessment of the water quality threats to metropolitan Shanghai in relation to the city’s rapid development.
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ItemBetween Project and Region: The Challenges of Managing Water in Shandong Province After the South-North Water Transfer Project(WATER ALTERNATIVES ASSOC, 2020-02-01)This paper examines the challenges that a region of China is facing as it seeks to integrate a centrally planned, hierarchically determined water transfer project into its own water supply systems. Water from China's South-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) has been available in Shandong since 2013. How has this province been managing the integration of SNWTP water into its water supply plans, and what challenges is it facing in the process? This paper demonstrates that Shandongʼs planners consistently overestimated future demand for water; this, together with the threats posed by reduced flows in the Yellow River, encouraged the Shandong government to support the building of the SNWTP. However, between the genesis of the plans for the SNWTP and its construction, the supply from the Yellow River became more reliable and the engineering systems and the efficiency of water use in Shandong Province itself has improved. As a result, by the time the SNWTP water became available, the province had little pressing need for it. Besides this reduced demand for SNWTP water, there have been difficulties in managing delivery of, and payment for, water within the province. These difficulties include unfinished local auxiliary projects that connect cities to the main canal, high water prices, conflict and lack of coordination among stakeholders, and ambiguous management policies. The result is that in 2016, on average, cities used less than 10% of their allocated quota of SNWTP water, while seven cities used none of their quota. The story of the SNWTP in Shandong is that of a centralised, hierarchically planned, fixed infrastructure with its deterministic projections coming into conflict with the fluidity of water demand and local political circumstances.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableAlternative water supply solutions: China's South-to-North-water-diversion in Jinan(ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2020-12-15)Inter-basin water transfers are intended to have a positive impact on the development of a region, but are always accompanied by huge energy consumption. The feasibility and effectiveness of water transfer projects have not yet been clearly evaluated, especially in the light of their energy consumption and effects on social development. This paper develops a method that combines life cycle approach and system dynamic model to reveal the effectiveness of different water supply alternatives (transferred water, reclaimed wastewater and rainwater harvesting) when they are all constrained to consume equal energy. This approach is applied to the case of Jinan city in Shandong province, China, the main water-receiving city on the Eastern Route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (ER-SNWTP). The results show that in normal years, Jinan's reclaimed water and rainwater harvesting supply are effective replacements for transferred water under the constraints of equal energy consumption and capital costs; even in dry years these two alternatives still play an important role. The results of this study indicate the relative effectiveness of reclaimed water and rainwater harvesting in supplying urban water while conserving energy and capital.
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ItemInside-out: Chinese academic assessments of large-scale water infrastructure(WILEY, 2021-11)Abstract Little is known in the international academic community about Chinese‐language research on water management. To remedy this deficit, this paper reviews current mainland Chinese understandings of the role of large‐scale water infrastructures as tools of water resources management. We reviewed 461 papers published in mainland Chinese journals by Chinese scholars. This review suggests that the dominant approach to water management reflects the confines of government priorities—large‐scale, concrete‐heavy, infrastructure‐based means of moving water around the country so as to meet demands and stimulate economic growth. Suppression of critical voices means that infrastructure is generally rendered apolitical: the critiques are about practical issues, such as technological, managerial, or administrative problems. There are exceptions to this characterization that adopt more critical frames; however, they reflect on water management elsewhere or in the past rather than on contemporary China. While these more critical papers are interesting and important contributions to our understanding of the politics of hydraulic infrastructures, the literature as a whole says little about the politics of infrastructure in China now. In effect, much of the literature in Chinese on water management in China simply acts as an arm of a machine—a network of corporations, universities, international institutions, and arms of the government, together tasked with identifying and framing what are water management issues, formulating standardized procedures for tackling those issues, and then constructing solutions to them. This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Planning Water Human Water > Water Governance