Presenter: Mr. Li Tang
Co-author(s): Mr. Zhong Qin, Ms. Junying Chen, Mr. Huaxin Chen, Miss. Xiaoxiao Wang
Organisation: TAIHU BASIN AUTHORITY OF MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES,P.R.CHINA
Sub-theme
6. Innovation for Water Governance and Management
Topic
6-4. Integrated river basin management
Body
Ensuring ecological flow is a permanent subject of human-water harmony. To maintain fundamental guarantee of ecological flow, a management mechanism should be set up with equal and clear responsibilities, rights and benefits, and scientific and efficient management process. However, there were many shortages in the practice of ensuring the ecological flow of rivers and lakes, including lack of systematic and integrated consideration for watersheds and ecosystems, weak basic research, insufficient investment, and lack of scientific and efficient management mechanisms among stakeholders in the whole management process. This study analyzed the ecological flow protection effects of different rivers and lakes from the aspects of ecological protection object and ecological flow target setting, ensuring implementation plan compiling, hydrologic monitoring, forecasting, warning, consultation, water engineering scheduling, water intake and use managing, supervision and inspection, examination and estimation through reviewing the ecological flow protection of five interprovincial and intra-provincial vital rivers and lakes in Taihu Lake and Southeast River Basin. The successful experience and problems of ecological flow protection in typical rivers and lakes were systematically summarized. In addition, an innovative conception of management mechanism to carry out ensuring ecological flow in a fair, reasonable, scientific and efficient way for stakeholders was proposed. The management mechanisms include long-term investment mechanism covering the whole process and chain of ecological flow guarantee, authoritative and flexible decision-making mechanism in terms of target setting and eco-compensation, efficient cooperation mechanism for monitoring and early warning and project scheduling, and scientific and fair compensation mechanism for ensuring ecological flow. This paper served for the protection, supervision and management of ensuring watershed ecological flow across administrative regions, which provided a complete professional work process, management mode and working mechanism for the protection and supervision. The study provided a useful reference for the local governments, competent departments and water engineering management units carrying out ecological flow ensuring.