Can every enterprise use water freely and every household use water indefinitely?

The answer is no.

On January 9th wan yusheng, director of the water resources management centre of the ministry of water resources, said that in the future the country would "define its economic structure by its water supply capacity".

"You can't just give as much water as you want, but you can distribute as much water as you want." "He said on the BBS of the institute of geography of the Chinese academy of sciences.

Starting from 2001, China began to pilot water-saving social construction in zhangye county, gansu province. There are currently 42 pilot areas at the national level and more than 100 at the provincial level.

According to wan yusheng, from 2008 to 2010, there will be more than 100 pilot areas for water-saving social construction in China, and more pilot areas in various provinces and cities.

There is a reason for the state to step up the pilot program. At present, both the total and per capita water resources in China are relatively small. Coupled with uneven distribution and accelerated economic development, China's water consumption is increasing day by day. Therefore, saving water has become an important task for the country.

To this end, the eleventh five-year plan has formulated a number of indicators for building a water-saving society. However, wan said the 2020 target for building a water-saving society would be even tougher. Among them, the total social water consumption will reach zero growth level by then.

2020 target: zero growth in water use

China is gradually implementing the policy of total water use control, and is preparing to implement the zero growth of water use in the whole society by 2020.

At present, China's total water resources are only 2.83 trillion cubic meters, ranking the sixth in the world, accounting for 6% of the world's total water resources. However, China's population accounts for 22% of the world's population.

However, with the acceleration of economic development, the demand for water resources in China has increased sharply and water shortage is serious. In 2006, for example, more than 280 million farmers failed to solve the drinking water problem, and more than 600 cities lacked water. There are about 40 billion cubic meters of water a year in China. Industrial water demand is still growing rapidly. For example, in 1950, China's industrial water use was only 9.6 billion cubic meters, and in 2006, it reached 134.4 billion cubic meters.

The problem is also that water is badly wasted. For example, China's 10,000 yuan GDP USES 272 cubic meters of water, more than 2.5 times the world average. The reuse rate for industrial water is only 62 percent, compared with more than 94 percent in the United States.

Therefore, in China's 11th five-year plan, a number of binding targets have been set for building a water-saving society. Among them, by 2010, the annual value of water added by ten thousand yuan of GDP and ten thousand yuan of industrial value shall be reduced by 6%, the effective utilization coefficient of agricultural irrigation water shall be increased from 0.45 to 0.5, and the urban sewage treatment rate shall reach 70%.

Since 2006, the above targets have been achieved satisfactorily. For example, ten thousand yuan of industrial value-added water was 154 cubic meters in 2006, down 8.9 percent from 2005. The national development and reform commission pointed out that this achievement is inseparable from the efforts of some regions to break down the water-saving indicators of the 11th five-year plan and fulfill their responsibilities, and take water saving as an indicator to assess the performance of local governments and incorporate it into the assessment system for economic and social development.

However, wan said the 2020 target for building a water-saving society would be even tougher. For example, at that time, the whole society will reach the level of zero growth in water resources. Under the condition of maintaining a good ecological environment, water resources will achieve a balance between supply and demand.

We will fully implement total control

To meet the targets for 2010 and 2020, the ministry of water resources is stepping up its pilot program and preparing to fully implement the target of total volume control.

It is understood that the main task for China to establish a water-saving society in the future is to establish four major systems, namely, water resource management system with total water resources control and quota management as the core. An economic structure that is compatible with the carrying capacity of water resources; Engineering technology system for optimal allocation and efficient utilization of water resources; And the social behavior standard system of conscious water use.

The water resources management system includes the establishment and improvement of water management system, total water consumption control and quota management system, water rights distribution, transfer and management system, water intake permit system, etc.

At present, there are zhangye, zhengzhou, langfang, tianjin and other national pilot cities.

From the earliest implementation of the zhangye pilot case, the effect is more obvious. In zhangye district, the total amount of water is distributed to every user step by step. At the same time, the water right management is implemented, allowing free trade, and the remaining water amount that has not been traded shall be recovered by the water pipe unit at 120% of the base price.

The above pilot projects have achieved remarkable results. In zhangye district, 46 cubic meters of water is saved per mu of farmland, and the farmers' water burden is 8.5 yuan less than in the past. The utilization rate of canal water increased from 50% to 60%. Meanwhile, the heihe river in the region has dropped 112 million cubic meters to Inner Mongolia downstream, improving the ecology of the region it flows through.

The Yellow River basin is also carrying out pilot projects of water-saving society, and the initial water right distribution reform is being carried out. The annual water volume of the Yellow River is 58 billion cubic meters. Apart from 21 billion cubic meters of ecological water, the remaining 37 billion cubic meters are allocated from 11 provinces and cities including qinghai, sichuan, gansu, shanxi, shanxi and ningxia.

Pilot results in the Yellow River sector have also been good. For example, some of ningxia's industrial water use has already been fixed quota indicators, yinchuan and other places have implemented water quota to households. However, it will take some time for similar measures to be extended to other regions.

However, the annual water share of these provinces is also not fixed, showing a dynamic change, that is, more Yellow River can be divided, and vice versa.

Wan yusheng said that even in the water-rich areas of the south, the reform of building a water-saving society should be carried out. The macro-control index of water right distribution in water-deficient areas is implemented. The distribution of water right in water-rich areas depends on the "micro-quota index", which can fully play the role of water price regulation and improve the utilization efficiency of water resources.

On January 4, the ministry of water resources issued the interim measures on water allocation, which will determine the total amount of water available or the amount of water available in river basins or administrative areas. Zhou ying, vice-minister of water resources, said the measures were designed to better guide and regulate water distribution.