[Chinese Mainland] Second Review of the Water Law Amendment Draft: Reclaimed Water Included in Unified Water Resources Allocation, Urban Greening to Prioritize Reclaimed Water

Introduction

The Water Law (Amendment Draft) was recently submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for second review. The draft makes important adjustments in the water resources allocation chapter: for the first time, reclaimed water (reclaimed water) is explicitly included in the unified water resources allocation system, and it requires that municipal miscellaneous uses such as urban greening, road cleaning, and ecological water replenishment prioritize the use of reclaimed water. This legislative development marks the transition of reclaimed water from "encouraged utilization" to a "statutorily allocated water source," opening up long-term institutional space for the resource recovery of industrial and municipal wastewater.

Background

China's per capita water resources are approximately one quarter of the world average, and the water shortage contradiction in northern and coastal industrial parks is particularly prominent. For a long time, reclaimed water utilization has been mainly policy-driven advocacy, lacking a rigid allocation status under superior law, resulting in a mismatch where "plants have no water to use, and water is available but not dared to be used." The current Water Law was enacted relatively early and lacks systematic allocation provisions for unconventional water sources. This second review of the amendment draft is precisely a reinforcement of this institutional shortcoming.

Core

According to disclosures from the second review draft, the draft mainly makes three institutional arrangements: First, in water resources planning, it explicitly states "unified allocation of various water sources including surface water, groundwater, and reclaimed water," granting reclaimed water equal planning status with conventional water sources; Second, it requires local people's governments at or above the county level, when formulating water supply plans, to include reclaimed water in allocation schemes for urban and rural miscellaneous water, industrial water, and ecological water; Third, it explicitly states that in "fields suitable for the use of reclaimed water, such as urban greening, road washing, landscape environment, and cooling water, reclaimed water shall be prioritized," with incentives provided in terms of finance and pricing.