1. Enforcing the science and policy
interface
-Experiences from ACEDP Inland River Basin Project
Dr Yongping Wei
Australia-China Centre on
Water Resources Research
the University of Melbourne
Dr Hang Zheng
Tsinghua University

2. Philosophy of managing river basins
Capacity
building
Policy/ Science/
practice research

3. Natural similarity between Australia and China
Sule Northwest of China
Hei
Tarim River Shiyang
Similarity:
•Drought
•Water shortage
•Ecological Degradation
•Adaption to Climate
Change Murray-Darling Basin
•… Murray-Darling Basin Shiiyang Basin

4. Institutional similarity between Australia and China
China Australia
• National No.1 Document, 2011– the • Australia’s National Water Initiative
only one of water as No.1 since 1949.
• National Water Quality Management
• “Three Red Lines” for water use: National level Strategy
quota, efficiency and quality.
• Water use cap and basin cut in MDB
• The twelve Five-Year plan of Gansu • Northern Region Sustainable Water
• The regulation of water use permission Strategy
and fee collection in Gansu. State/Province • Recycling
• Integrated water use planning in Gansu • Living Melbourne, Living Victoria
• Integrated water resources restoration • Guide to the Proposed Basin Plan of
plan in the Shiyang River Basin Murray Darling
• Integrated plan for water utilization and • Integrated water resource management
ecological protection in Shule River
River Basin in the Goulburn Broken Catchment
Basin
• Canals lining • Rubicon Canals controlling system
• Northern Victoria Irrigation Renewal
• Agricultural & irrigation water saving Farmers Project
• Water rights system for the farmers • Water trading among the farmers

5. Comparative study- national level
China Australia
700
600 Caps in 1994
Water Use ( 1000 GL)
500
400
300
200
100
0
1949 1980 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 2015 2018
Three Red Lines
Water Use Volume National Annual Cap(2020):
670,000 GL
Water Use efficiency National average irrigation
water consumption rate: 55%
Water Quality National security of drinking
water (urban and rural)

6. Comparative study- State level
China-Gansu Australia-Victoria
Five Years Planning Victoria Sustainable Water Strategies
2011-2015
2006-2010
2001-2005 Planning Index of Gansu, 2011-2015
2015
Project Indicator for planning Unit 2010
1996-2000 Change Up to
Water Allocation Water Use Cap 100 million 121 4.4 125
m3
1991-1995Water Use per GDP m /10000
3
351 -131 220
Yuan
Water Saving
Irrigation Water Use 0.51 0.03 0.54
Rate
Rural Drinking Secured population 10000 616 650 1266
Water
Flood Control Length of the Dike Km 3635 1200 4835
Metering Hydrologic Stations 93 3 96

7. Comparative study- Catchment level
China Australia
Duration Based Water Allocation Capacity Sharing
(1800s-2011) (1980s-2011)
Evaporation
Inflow Supply
The concept of the duration-based water rights is similar to
capacity sharing in Australia. Both of the systems promote
decentralized management by allowing individual water users
to exercise a degree of control over storage decisions. Thus,
both approaches are helpful to address the problems of
hydrological risk, asymmetric information and transaction costs
of water delivery in centralized water management.
The water entitlement is expressed by the fixed number of
water extraction days within a year. Water users can
manage and store stream flow independently during their
allocation duration. The water authority is only responsible
for water use planning and accounting. The hydrological
risk is taken by water users while they get more flexibility
to make their own decisions on storage and use.

8. Comparative study- Farm level
China Australia

9. Science inform policy-an example

10. Expected outcomes by the end of the project
An approach for enforcing the science and policy interface
to improve the river basin manager’s capacity of managing
the threats to sustainable water resources development
in the context of river basins interactively connected to the
national-level, state-level and farm level water management
activities.

11. Outcomes: scoping projects together
• Managing river basins for more resilient ecosystems and
more sustainable consumptive uses: an international
comparative study-ARC-linkage ($ 941k, Submitted);
(Tsinghua University); 2011
• Understanding cultural and ecological triggers for policies
against water catchment degradationfunded by Chinese
Natural Sciences Foundation Committee; (3 m Yuan,
CAS); 2011
• Australian Endeavour Award for Professor Qi Feng from
CAS; CAS’s Distinguished Overseas Professor Award for
Professor John Langford from the University of Melbourne;
2010
• Systemic and adaptive water governance: lessons for
Australia from China and South Africa-ARC-linkage project;
(CAS), 2009
Farms, Rivers and Market funded by Australian National
Water Committee ( $20m ) and Heihe River Basin Research
Program funded by Chinese Natural Sciences Foundation
Committee (150 m Yuan), 2009

12. Outcomes: co-production of knowledge
Journal Papers
• Yongping Wei, Hang Zheng, John Langford, Guodong Cheng. 2011. 变化环境下
流域管理的知识创新机制 . 地球科学进展 (accepted)
• Hang Zheng; Zhongjing Wang; Hector Malano; and Yongping Wei. 2011. A water
allocation-trading framework for duration-based water rights system in
China ， Agricultural Water Management(submitted);
• Shuai Wang, Bojie Fu and Yongping Wei (30%). 2011. Finding the Third Hand to
Manage Ecosystem Services. Ambio (Accepted)
• Hang Zheng; Zhongjing Wang; Siyi Hu; and Yongping Wei.2011. A comparative
study of the performance of public water rights allocation in China ， Water
Resources Management. (accepted)
• Yonggang Yang, Honglang Xiao, Yongping Wei, Liangju Zhao, Songbing Zou,
Zhenliang Yin and Qin Yang. 2011. Hydrologic processes in the different landscape
zones of Mafengou River basin in the alpine cold region during the melting period.
2011. Journal of Hydrology. (in press)
• Yonggang Yang, Honglang Xiao, Yongping Wei, Songbing Zou, Liangju Zhao, Qiu
Yang. 2011. Hydrological processes in the different landscape zones in alpine cold
region in wet season combining isotopic and hydrochemical tracers. Hydrological
Processes. (accepted)
• Bo-Jie Fu Chang-Hong Su Yongping Wei Ian R. Willett Yi-He Lu Guo-Hua Liu.
2011. Double counting in ecosystem services valuation: causes and
countermeasures. Ecological Research. 26:1-14.
Policy briefing
• Recommendation to the Ministry of Water Resources on how to implementing the
three red lines of No.1 Document based on Australian Basin Plan (under way);
Incorporation of Australian experiences into the basin plan of the Shiyang River Basin
and Shule River Basin

13. Outcomes: friendship-based partnerships
• Integrated catchment management, Cold
and Arid Regions Environment and
Engineering Research Institute; Chinese
Academy of Sciences;
• Application of remote sensing in water
resource management, Institute of Water
Resources and Hydropower research, the
Ministry of Water Resources;
• Water and environmental governance under
climate change, Policy Research Centre for
Environment and Economy, Ministry of
Environmental Protection;
• Catchment ecosystem services, Research
Centre of Eco-Environmental Sciences,
Chinese Academy of Sciences;
• Water allocation and water trading,
Tsinghua University.

14. Benefit for Australia
• Exchange Eco-hydrological modelling;
• Demonstrate Australian water market and river basin management
approach in Chinese inland river basins;
• Showcase Australian water stewardship approach to Chinese river basin
management;
• Export Australian Rubicon channel control system to China;
• Improve Australian scientists to access to Chinese funding.

15. Lessons: adapting to changes
• Wider project objectives;
• More flexible team;
• Joint-activities;
• Parallel and complementary projects.

16. Thanks