Daming He Daming He Daming He Daming He AIRC, Yunnan University, ChinaAIRC, Yunnan University, ChinaAIRC, Yunnan University, ChinaAIRC, Yunnan University, China

Issues, Challenges, and Cooperation

in Transboundary Waters

Between China and Africa

Workshop on Transboundary Water Management: Orange-Senqu and

Zambezi Basins, Johannesburg, South Africa , 29-30 April, 2014

�Diverse but common challenges we are facing on

�Diverse but common TWR issues we have to solute

�Diverse but different advantages we could share each other

�Diverse but common interests we could cooperate each other

China-Africa

Diverse but common challenges we are facing on

�As developing countries: how to balance the

development and conservation?

� As the monsoon-driving-ecosystem countries: how to

adapt the climate change?

�As the riparian countries sharing diverse international

waters: how to strength the multiple geo-cooperation

and solute the transboundary issues?

�As the long-friendship countries: how to facilitate and

update the transboundary water cooperation, from

basins, countries, regions, to global?

� ……

We face on

the high water

pressure.

Asia is the

world’s most

water-stressed

continent (UNEP

2009).

We share many international rivers, but the

transboundary issues in China are much

more complex.

Most of the great rivers originate from its central

mountains and flow from China into the Pacific, the

Indian Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean (Chinese Geological

Surveying Bureau, 2012).

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n, 2

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Daming He1*, Ruidong Wu1, Yan Feng1, Yungang Li1, Chengzhi Ding1,

Wenling Wang1, and Douglas W. Yu2,3*（（（（2014-04-20））））

China’s

transboundary

waters: New

paradigms for

water and

ecological

security through

applied ecology

research

� Response of key ecological elements (runoff, sediment, water

quality, bio-community) to climate changes.

� Regional storming and transboundary flooding

� Water quality change and transboundary water pollution

� International Watercourse change and migration fish

ecosystem health

� International water laws’ revision and improvement

� Regional hydro-political issue of

Vulnerability Assessment and Management of Transboundary

Resources

� Conflicts and solution of Transboundary water

We are facing on environmental issues under the

climate change and human activities driving as the

economic fast development.

The upstream region of the international rivers, mainly

locating in West China, is the key area for Asian water

security and ecology security.

“Asia’s lifeblood”( Sophie le Clue,February 9, 2012)

� The third pole on the earth

� The “Asian Water Tower”

� The Lifeline for almost one-third of humanity in the world

� The Ecological Buffer between the North and South Asia

� The “Asia’s lifeblood”

The major transboundary issues of international

rivers in Southwest China

Degradation of river

ecosystem

Regional serious

soil erosion

Pattern changes in

wetland ecosystem

Environmental

degradation in mining

areas

River sedimentation

Region environmental

change

Damage to effect of

hydropower projectsWater shortage of mountain

environment

Biodiversity descend

Transboundary hydrological

regime changes

Damage to ecosystem

Transboundary flood

hazard

Watercourse fragmentation

Transboundary impact

of environmental change

River water quality worsen

Transboundary water

pollution

The conflicts of

transboundary

resources / ecology

Construction of the main

international passage

Geo-cooperation and

environmental diplomacy

The construction of cross-

border economic

corridors

Regional energy

cooperation

International treaties /

agreements

1980-2006：：：：The percentage of persons impacted by water problems

Among 2.6 billion people who have not enough security water supply in the world，，，，2.5 billion in Asia and Africa, but about 2.0 billion in Asia

( Source: WHO/UNICEF, 2010)

Diverse but common TWR issues we have to solute

� How to allocate and utilize TWR equitably and

reasonably

� How to assess transboundary impact of TWR

development

� How to manage transboundary water resources

(TWR) coordinately among riparian countries

� How to prevent and solve the conflict of TWR:

sharing the benefit and responsibility equitably

� How to facilitate the participation for all

stakeholders of riparian countries

Surface water quality in 10 river systems regions and 26 major lakes as of 2011.

Chinese Rivers are labeled with bars

representing the distribution of water

quality based on monitoring results in each

river system, while water quality of major

lakes is labeled with filled circles and total

water resources is labeled with scale drop.

In China, water quality is broken into five

categories that can be described as ‘‘good’’

(Grades I, II, and III) or ‘‘poor’’ (Grades IV

and V or V+, which cannot support

drinking). Grades represent official water

quality classifications based on China’s

Surface Water Environmental Quality

Standard as reported by the Ministry of

Environmental Protection of the People’s

Republic of China. (Data Sources: Ministry

of Environmental Protection of the

People’s Republic of China. June 6, 2012.

http://jcs.mep.gov.cn/hjzl/zkgb/2011zkgb/2

01206/t20120606_231040.htm. The

Ministry of Water Resources of the

People’s Republic of China. December 17,

2012.

Source: Daming He*, Ruidong Wu, Douglas W Yu, Yan Feng, Yungang

Li, Chengzhi Ding and Wenling Wang, 2013. Towards transboundary water

and ecological security for international rivers in China

Diverse but different advantages we could share

each other

�TWR management: Africa China

� International Cooperative mechanism:

�……..

� Integrated development and management of river basin:

China Africa

�Hydropower development and eco-risk management:

China Africa

�…….

Africa China

Sharing the experiences and technologies of irrigated

agriculture development from Asian to Africa

�China owns 16.7％％％％ of the world’s total avainable

hydrulic enegy resources, and is ranked in the first

�China’s installed capacity of hydropiwer has been also

ranked in the first in the world since 2004

““““The World Hydropwer is in Chna，，，，

China’s Hydropower is in its southwest great rivers!”

Sharing the experiences and technologies of

hydropower development from Asian to Africa

Th

e D

am

s in

Ch

ina

The major Advances for River Health

Maintaining in the Upper Mekong

the first integrated controlling system for fish

ecosytem health in the upper Mekong under

the cascade daming

� Canceling one cascade

dam

� Building the fish

Facilities

� Pumping at different

water levels

� Cascade operating based

the eco-security demand

� Establishing the fish

protected area

� Lowering the dams

height

� Developing the fish

hatchery

� Babi fish releasing

Migrating corridor protection

Fishery resources proliferation

Water temperature regulating

Habitat protection(natural nerves)

Diverse but common interests we could

cooperate each other

�Information, knowledge and technologies sharing

�Cooperative researches

�Capacity building

�Scholarship, education, and training

�Exchange and workshops

�….

�Environmental Change and

Ecosystem Services will

address upstream-

downstream relationships

�These changes impact on

entire river basins and

beyond, regionally and

globally

�Today we know that

adaptation to climate change

and the long-term and

equitable use of scarce

resources needs a regional,

transboundary approach April 2008

The Experience from World Bank for Benefits Cooperation

Four Types of Benefits (Dr. Claudia Sadoff, 2010)

Improved productivity,

flood & drought

management

Improved ecosystem

sustainability, conservation

& water quality

Policy shift to cooperation

& development

Broader regional

cooperation &

integration

Type 1: Environmental

Increasing Benefits To the river

Type 2: Economic

Increasing Benefits From the river

Type 3: Political

Decreasing Costs Because of the river

Type 4: Indirect Economic

Increasing Benefits Beyond the river

Sadoff & Grey, 2002

� River ecosystem pattern and coupling

relationship

� Chain structural characteristics and ecological

effect chain of river continuum

� Change characteristics and regional differences

of river ecological process

� Change trend of river ecological process

(1) Pattern and change trend of river ecological process

Some major topics suggesting for cooperative

research

� Response of key ecological elements (runoff,

sediment, water quality, bio-community) to climate

changes.

� Response of key ecological elements to regional

human activity driving

� Relationship among solid water (glaciers), river

flow and climate changes.

� Regional response of river ecological process to

the impacts of climate changes and human

activities.

(2) Regional response of river ecological

process to climate changes

(3) Multi-scale effect of river ecological changes

� Changes of river ecological process and its integrity

conservation

� Changes of major ecological service function and

ecological water requirement

� Change of ecological process and hazard chain

� Runoff change and the security of water resources

and hydropower energy

River system fragmentation,

watercourse ecological process

and its impacts?

Ecological effect and impacts

of large scale dams

construction in mountain area?

Regional water cycle process

and impacts as environment

changes under the large-scale

cascade development?

River valley ecosystem

conservation under the

climate change and dams

construction?

(4) Transboundary impacts of

river ecological changes

� Transboundary impacts of sediment change

� Transboundary impacts of runoff change

� Regional storming and transboundary flooding

� Water quality change and transboundary water

pollution

� Impacts of river ecological changes to the

transboundary migration fish ecosystem

� Watercourse change and border demarcation

uncertainties

(5) Maintenance of river health and regulating

mechanism of transboundary ecological security

� Key ecological threshold and evaluation base of

river health

� Standards of sharing water resources and benefits

allocation (Quantifiable indexes system)

� Model system of transboundary water resources

allocation (Different watercourse type, regional

environment and cooperation region)

� Regional variation and key influencing factors of

transboundary ecological security issues

� Regulating mechanism and adaptive strategies

(Different regional environment and cooperation

region)

� Need the new law’s articles for “common but different

duty ” to share the benefits and cost equitably between

upstream and downstream

� Need the trans-boundary environmental compensation

mechanism to facilitate the regional development equity

(1) Regional development equity should

added in international rivers laws

The key suggestion we could cooperate to

facilitate more fair mechanism

development for transboundary waters

(2) Trans-boundary environmental

compensation mechanism should be

established

It has been recently apprehended from an

environmental and even ecological point of view IR

treaties has to be conceived in an interdisciplinary

and multisectorial context because its related features

involve, for instance, environment, health, agriculture,

economy, law or policies

� Identify the key items/index of benefits and cost

from economic development, ecological security,

and geo-politics cooperation

� Assess the getting and losing from the cooperation

among riparian countries

� Establish the trans-boundary environmental

compensation mechanism to facilitate the regional

development equity

� Negotiate the clear rules

Wish the workshop and our cooperation in

future could reduce adverse transboundary

impacts and preventing conflicts in

international rivers, by facilitating informed

decision-making for transboundary waters

and eco-security decisions in China, Africa,

Asia, and the world.

Thank You！！！！