The Ministry of Water Resources will roll out water rights trading and government buyback mechanisms nationwide
The State Council Information Office held a press conference. When introducing China's water-saving irrigation situation, Vice Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying said that water rights trading and government buyback mechanisms will be promoted nationwide, so that farmers can profit from water conservation and receive more tangible benefits.
Li Guoying said that the water-saving trading mechanism and the government buyback mechanism are incentive mechanisms to encourage water conservation in farmland irrigation. First, farmers' water rights are allocated to them. In the past, there were no allocated water rights; it was like water from a big communal pot, and people used as much as they wanted, as if it were inexhaustible and limitless. Now the Ministry of Water Resources wants to allocate agricultural water rights level by level, down to irrigation districts, and then the irrigation districts allocate them to water users. On this premise, total volume control is implemented.
Li Guoying gave an example. For instance, for the water consumption per mu of farmland, suppose farmers are allocated a cap of only 300 cubic meters. In this situation, if the people reform their irrigation methods and adopt highly efficient water-saving irrigation methods, they may not need 300 cubic meters. According to Ministry of Water Resources statistics, flood irrigation uses an average of 400 cubic meters of water per mu. If sprinkler irrigation is used, half is saved, making it 200 cubic meters. If drip irrigation is used, another half is saved, making it 100 cubic meters. After adopting highly efficient water-saving irrigation methods, the water rights originally allocated to farmers will not be fully used. What should be done if they are not fully used? In order to encourage them and let farmers profit from water conservation and receive more tangible benefits, a rural water rights trading mechanism is established. Farmers can offer it for sale. To whom do they sell it? Perhaps to adjacent users whose land has been transferred and whose scale has expanded, so the water originally allocated to them is no longer enough. If they ask the government for more, there is none left, so they can only buy this portion of usage rights from the water saved by neighboring farmers. The two sides can negotiate the price with each other. This is the trading mechanism.
Li Guoying said that if no one wants the water everyone has saved, the government makes up for it. The government establishes a buyback mechanism. When selling water rights to farmers, for example, one cubic meter of water may cost five mao. If farmers save 10% and cannot sell it, the government steps in to buy it back. It buys it back at five mao and adds one fen, reflecting the government's commendation and incentive for water conservation, prompting farmers to consciously adopt highly efficient water-saving irrigation methods during irrigation. In the process of water-saving irrigation, they not only increase grain output, but the saved water can also bring a new source of income. Once such a mechanism is established, it will promote the adoption of new irrigation technologies through policy.
Li Guoying said that the government buyback mechanism has already begun to be implemented in some places in China. For example, in the Zhangye area of the Heihe River basin in Gansu, farmers have already begun trading with water tickets. For example, in some irrigation districts in Hunan, the government buyback mechanism has already been established, and practice has proven that all have achieved very good results. Therefore, the Ministry of Water Resources plans next to promote this mechanism on a larger scale nationwide.