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Article

Identification and Diagnosis of Transboundary River Basin Water Management in China and Neighboring Countries

by
Lei Wang
1,2 and
Aifeng Lv
1,2,*
1
Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
2
College of Resource and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12360; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912360
Submission received: 28 August 2022 / Revised: 22 September 2022 / Accepted: 23 September 2022 / Published: 28 September 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Resources Governance for a Sustainable Future)
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Abstract

:
Numerous studies have demonstrated that a complex distribution of water resources, regional development, and management mechanisms create significant management challenges for transboundary river basins. We utilized diagnostic thinking to examine the water management issues of the 14 main transboundary watersheds in three regions (Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest) of China. Our four diagnosis points were water quantity, water quality, ecological stability and human health, and cooperation among watershed stakeholders. We found that the watersheds faced varying water management issues. The Indus and Ganges basins have the worst problems, whereas the Tarim basin’s ecological environment is the most vulnerable and the Ob basin is the fittest. Therefore, depending on each basin’s results, we provide practical water management ideas for each. Furthermore, we summarized and classified the geographical settings of each basin and determined the water management issues in each major region in China. Our results provide direction for both new research on and cooperation with transboundary basin water management.

1. Introduction

Water, the most ubiquitous substance on earth, supports ecosystems and the progression of human civilization [1,2]. However, the planet’s water systems are changing because of the consequences of rapidly growing economies and populations [3,4]. Water shortages, pollution, and other water issues are widespread [5], and they have substantially negatively effects on ecosystems and food productivity worldwide [6]. To function as a major, surface territorial unit, watersheds rely on water resources [7]. Water management, astute development and the exploitation of a river basin’s water resources are crucial components of maintaining a regional water system’s ability to grow sustainably [8].
The improvement of the transboundary river basins and subsequent water distribution is of international concern [9] because river water resources that cross national boundaries may support multiple regional water supplies, and the loss of a security status between the affected countries can cause conflicts between those countries and threaten their national securities [10]. The water supplies of transboundary rivers can be regionally unbalanced because the countries through which those rivers flow use the water according to their own, individual mandates. This creates conflicts among transboundary river basin management approaches [11], and that results in severe transboundary river basin water management issues [12]. Unreasonable water use in the upper reaches of transboundary rivers can exacerbate water stresses in the lower reaches of the river [13]. Human water use activities in some river sections not only affect the environment of the sub-basin but also may destroy the ecosystem of the entire basin [14]. The construction of dams and reservoirs in watersheds (especially upstream of rivers) may prolong downstream droughts, and this effect cannot be ameliorated by tributary water compensation [15]. Those investigations show that a country’s development can be hampered by gaps in the utilization and management of transboundary basins.
Indicators and models are frequently employed to assess the states of water systems and to identify basin water management issues. Among these methods, a model including driving forces, pressures, states, impacts, and responses (DPSIR) is considered to be a reliable and effective method [16], and this has been used to evaluate the vulnerability of water resources systems in the East Nile Basin [17]. Taking into account climate change, water allocation, socio-economic pressures, and other issues, the application of DPSIR models in the field of water evaluation is constantly being updated [18]. In addition, a heuristic model was used to assess water supply risk while predicting future water availability [19]. The outcomes of those studies have helped to highlight current issues with water management and are the bases for the following management assessment strategy. Issue diagnosis is a key method that can uncover the features of the actual water system status [20]. Compared to a systematic review, issue diagnosis is focused more on the state of the object that is being diagnosed, so the various symptoms that a subject presents are observed during the research process and the diagnostic conclusions are more precise, targeted, and organized [21,22]. Although diagnosis is widely utilized in other fields (e.g., medicine and business management), it is rarely used to find water issues. Currently, the target of water security research for a river basin is to solve the water crisis. To that end, water research should adopt an approach to diagnosis to help comprehend water management and to assist in the creation of a credible method for assessing water resources.
Many of Asia’s transboundary rivers begin in China and their Chinese transboundary watersheds contain various geographic features. Overall, 18 transboundary rivers in China have limited water resources due to climate change, environmental protection, emergency management, regional cooperation and other problems [23]. There are six major transboundary rivers in Southern China with low social and ecological vulnerability, and the lower reaches of the rivers are greatly disturbed by human activities [24]. Water resources in the Tarim Basin in Northwest China are also vulnerable [25]. In the face of these challenges, some remedial measures need to be taken, such as establishing a platform for information sharing and enhancing collaboration and communication [24]. By diagnosing the water management issues in China’s transboundary basins, the existing transboundary river concerns may be better understood, and the critical components of water management may be clarified. That may thus provide a practical foundation for adjusting water management strategies in other countries.
Therefore, based on their current conditions, we diagnosed the water management issues of 14 major transboundary watersheds in China, summarized the main issues that the regions with transboundary basins face, and formulated recommendations for future water resources management.

2. Research Area

China’s transboundary rivers are found in unusual geographic regions, have an abundance of water resources, and have sophisticated management mechanisms. Most of the rivers’ water resources are exposed to both regional and global climate change as well as to the effects of economic and social growth. China’s river morphology is renowned for having rough currents, steep slopes, and plentiful hydroelectric resources, and most of those rivers originate at high altitudes. The rivers pass through seven distinct climate zones and have diverse runoff recharge sources [11,12].
With 40 transboundary rivers (and lakes), which are both large and small, China is among those countries with the greatest number of transboundary rivers and shared water resources worldwide [26] (Figure 1). China has 15 major international rivers, such as the Pearl River, the Tarim River, and the Ili River [12]. Among China’s 15 major transboundary rivers, 18 countries besides China host watersheds that are populated by about three billion people (including China) [27]. China has three major regions that have most of its transboundary rivers (Table 1). Due to the multi-national nature of the data that are needed for our study, we used watershed boundary data that was provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) [28]. To better identify potential water management issues, we combined the Ganges and the Yarlung Zangbo-Brahmaputra basins into the "Ganges basin". Thus, 14 transboundary basins were selected as research subjects (Table 1).

3. Transboundary Basin Water Management

We performed the transboundary basin water management issue diagnoses in three steps: (1) We described the issues’ key water management characteristics by reviewing the related research material, summarizing the phenomena from both overall and sectoral viewpoints, and establishing a water management issue diagnostic table with major diagnosis points. (2) We diagnosed the water management issues where, based on the first step, the amount of data and each basin’s current state were joined to diagnose each issue, one at a time, focusing on each basin’s relative water management status. (3) We summarized and deduced each basins’ water management issues. By reviewing the diagnosis results from each basins’ actual water management issues, we compiled the key water management issues of transboundary basins in three major regions of China.

3.1. Water Management and Diagnosis

Water systems should be maintained to ensure the sustainability of water resources in the basin [29,30], and the stability and balance of the available water in basins can be achieved and thus, this can “allow everyone on the planet to enjoy a sufficient amount and reasonable price of clean water while maintaining the improvement of the natural environment” [31]. However, unlike river basins that are contained within a single country, transboundary river basins differ both geographically and commercially because they involve the territory and interests of more than one geopolitical entity [32]. Each country manages the water resources that are located inside of its borders. While the countries that share a transboundary river basin may collaborate to allocate its water resources judiciously, regulate floods effectively, and maintain the water environment in real-time to better protect their water rights and interests, those collaborations do not exist without arguments occurring. A broader loss of benefits occurs from transboundary water conflicts that are caused by international water management [33]. Therefore, while some studies have analyzed river basin water issues by considering water quality, quantity, and ecology [34,35], we diagnose the water quantity, water quality, ecological stability, human health, and cooperation among watershed stakeholders. Then for each basin, we analyzed and identified the traits of various water management practices that deviate from the normal status of water resources (Table 2).

3.2. Identification of Basin Water Management

We chose eight indicators, including the annual average runoff at the river basin outlet, the level of water stress, and water quality indicators to identify issues of the 14 transboundary watersheds. The Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database (TFDD) and the FAO are two examples of open data sources from which we collected data. Based on our research goals, some data (e.g., the proportion of a population with access to safe drinking water) should be reanalyzed or spatially interpolated.

4. Diagnosis and Analysis of Water Management in Transboundary River Basins

4.1. Water Quantity

The water supply in a basin is greatly influenced by its river’s water quantity. The changes in water quantity of rivers can be characterized by changes in their average flows. Over the past few decades, the average flows per decade of the 14 transboundary rivers in China have not changed significantly as a whole, but all of them have been experiencing historically earlier high flows in summer (Figure 2). Seven rivers in the Southwest suffered summer high flows from May to September in 1990 through 1999. However, the high flows of these rivers were about half a month earlier from 2010 to 2019 (mid-April to mid-August), while the Pearl and Indus Rivers each had much shorter duration of high-flow. Between 2000 and 2009, the average flows of the three Northwest transboundary rivers changed noticeably, especially that of the Ili River. The four transboundary rivers in Northeast China underwent their largest modifications between February and April. In the spring (February-April) of 1990 to 2019, both the Sujfun and Tumen Rivers had a rise in their average flows per decade, but then this was followed by drops in them. Overall though, the high flows of them have experienced an upward trend. Additionally, the 2010−2019 summer high flows of the Red, Ob, and Yalu Rivers were greatly reduced compared to their volumes in 1990 to 1999.
To ascertain whether a basin’s water resources are adequate, the amount of water used must be monitored. Based on the 2018 global water use statistics that were obtained from a variety of industries, the FAO calculated the water stress indicators in river basins throughout the world. Overall, the water demands in the middle and low latitudes is relatively high (level of water stress > 20), which corresponds with the world population distribution (Figure 3). The Yalu, Ili, Tarim, Indus, and Ganges Rivers are greatly stressed due to rising anthropogenic water demands, and their levels of water stress range from 94 to 242. The Salween, Tumen, Sujfun, and Ob Rivers have comparably low water demands (level of water stress of seven or below).

4.2. Water Quality

Water quality issues are widespread in both developed and developing nations, and the effects on water bodies in basins are unclear due to the numerous elements that might affect water quality [38]. The United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Freshwater Quality Database (GEMStat) has the only global inland water quality dataset, and it has observations from 2959 stations in more than 72 countries. The institutions that monitor and regulate water quality are dispersed throughout several nations, thus, water quality standards are inconsistent. Indicators of water quality that are used in current research frequently include pH, nitrate, heavy metals, trace elements, hardness, odor, and color [42,43]; however, most indicators frequently lack global-scale monitoring. A proxy indicator of organic pollution levels and overall water quality, biological oxygen demand (BOD), is highly correlated with the economic growth within watersheds [38]. Most of the nitrogen that is used as agricultural fertilizer ends up in rivers, lakes, and seas where it is transformed into nitrates that adversely affect water quality. As a result of increased water extraction, drought and rainfall shocks, sea-level rise, and improperly managed irrigation systems, water bodies are becoming more salinized, and that then lowers the agricultural production and degrades the water quality [44]. To define the water quality of a watershed, we constructed an overall water quality index that was based on the normalization of three indicators that were acquired via global simulation: BOD, water conductivity and nitrogen content.
The results revealed that there is poor water quality in Asia’s middle and low latitudes, particularly in Southeast Asia and the northern Indian peninsula (Figure 4). The southern Indus River basin, the western and southern Ganges River basin, and the southern Amur River basin all have significantly high-water quality index values (over 15), thus indicating poor water quality. The Tarim River basin’s water quality index displayed a ring-shaped high value. However, the overall water quality indexes of the Ob and Irrawaddy River basins were less than seven, and the water quality of the other basins were likewise relatively good.

4.3. Ecological Stability and Human Health

The content, structure, and function of a watershed ecosystem are influenced by a variety of temporal and spatial factors that govern water, soil, air, and biological ecosystems [45]. The most obvious way that human activity affects ecosystems is through land use. When examining water conservation, forests contribute greatly (61.9%) to sustaining a watershed ecosystem’s stability [46]. A watershed’s vulnerability can be reflected in its forest cover changes, which can also contribute greatly to the watershed’s environmental protection.
We determined each basin’s change in forest coverage from 2000 to 2020 (Figure 5), and observed that the Tarim River basin, followed by the Ili basin, had the lowest forest coverage (2%). Except for the Amur River basin, the three northeastern basins each have the high amounts of forest coverage (all have been at or above 70%). The Ganges, Indus, and Irrawaddy basins in southwest China have had steady forest coverage over many years, yet the Indus basin still has less than 10% of its land covered in forests.
Human activity and water are inextricably linked, and humans play a vital role in the ecosystem of a watershed. A crucial requirement for maintaining human health in the watershed is access to clean, safe drinking water [47,48], and the percentage of a population that is without access to clean drinking water helps to define the state of human health in that population. Figure 5 shows how the six Southwest watersheds have abnormally high percentages of water-related fatalities (>4%). Over 17% of deaths in the Indus and Ganges basins have been attributed to poor water quality. Despite having enough clean drinking water, the Red, Indus, and Ganges basins still have a high number of water-related fatalities. The percentage of the population who died due to water-related issues in the Northeast and Northwest watersheds was 2% or less, and the percentage of the population with unsafe drinking water was 10%. Judging from those two indicators, the Northeast and Northwest watersheds have better human health than the Southwest watersheds do.

4.4. Cooperation among Watershed Stakeholders

The effectiveness of institutional coordination among countries sharing a transboundary basin likely impacts each nation’s development [49]. A lack of coherence in water management could easily result in regional conflicts and even jeopardize national security [10,33]. We screened the water-related events (e.g., meetings for water cooperation and conflicts) that occurred from 1948 to 2018 and that included two or more countries that share any of the 14 watersheds in our study. Based on the TFDD database, we divided those events into five categories: water distribution, water environment and treatment, water conservation and hydropower development, disaster prevention and data sharing, and other topics such as economic and trade activities, etc. (Table 3). Because there were no water-related event data for the Pearl River basin, we classified the water events for the remaining 13 river basins.
Statistically, water disputes were most common in the Mekong, Indus, and Ganges basins, likely because of complex natural and socioeconomic factors in those regions. To preserve societal stability inside of a watershed, third-party international organizations have frequently intervened, both with mediation and funds. In Northeast China, the Amur River basin suffered the most frequent water-related events, and they were mostly in three categories: water distribution, water environment and treatment, and water conservation and hydropower development. However, the relations between the countries sharing the other three basins are generally steady and cordial. In the Northwest transboundary basins, issues are mostly in familiar categories: water distribution, water environment and treatment, and water conservation and hydropower development. In fact, those three categories were generally the focus of most of the transnational water-related events that have occurred in the 13 river basins over the past 70 years, and most of those basins lacked international cooperation in disaster prevention and data sharing.

5. Results and Discussions

There are differences in water management in China’s 14 main transboundary river basins (Table 4). The poor water quality of the Amur basin’s southern region is its principal issue. The Sujfun and Tumen River basins have a more stable riparian ecological habitat as well as a higher percentage of forest cover than the other basins do. However, while the stream water volumes of the Sujfun and Tumen rivers initially increased, their water volumes decreased throughout the spring flood season (February to April). Additionally, the water quality of the Sujfun and Tumen rivers could use further improvement. The Yalu basin’s major water management issue arises from its water demands. Out of the 14 river basins, the Ob basin’s water-related issues are the least serious. The Ili basin’s water volume fluctuations need serious attention, as the changes that occurred between 2000 and 2009 were tied directly to the basin’s management [50]. The most notable issues with the Tarim basin is the relatively low surface water quality that is surrounding the Taklimakan Desert. This unique desert riparian zone has developed into an ecologically fragile area [51]. The Ganges and Indus basins have severe issues with water management and human health. The growing population and economic and social development in those two basins have caused high levels of degraded water quality, even though the basins’ water supplies are mostly stable throughout the year. We suggest that watershed management of the Red and Irrawaddy River basins focus on safeguarding water quality and people’s health. Finally, while the aggregate water levels of the 14 transboundary rivers did not vary significantly, seasonal variations were noticeable. As a result, future basin water managers should strive to understand annual water availability changes in each basin so that proper seasonal water use regulations are enforced, and water use demands in each basin are relieved via water transfer-water storage compensation mechanisms.
There are some constraints in this study. Firstly, a cohesive management structure or agency is currently absent at the transboundary basin level [38]. Not surprisingly, we discovered that most of the basins have modest gaps in their disaster prevention and data sharing, and these can impede the efficient water resource management in transboundary basins [31,52]. Secondly, the research data availability is constrained because of the inconsistent nature of numerous indicators. Not all of the countries hosting a river basin have the same water quality monitoring and classification standards. The physical and chemical indicators (e.g., pH, salinity, water color, transmittance, water temperature, and sand content) that were used to assess water quality are determined with intricate and unique methods. We selected only three main water quality indicators (BOD, electrical conductivity, and nitrogen content) to diagnose water quality. To identify the ecological stability of a basin, the basin’s water ecology should be divided into two categories: the ecological environments within the channel and the bank of the river [49]. Additionally, that entire ecological environment is a complex system with many diverse elements, so it is challenging to use a single index to analyze all of the effects and changes of the various factors in that environment [53]. Biodiversity change is a key indicator of ecological stability, but biodiversity data are lacking in transboundary river research [54]. Furthermore, we cannot ignore the impact of climate change which is likely to hinder the development of water resources. Water scarcity and the deterioration of water quality in different water resources will be exacerbated by rising temperatures and fluctuations in rainfall in the future [55,56]. Finally, the TFDD’s water event data is also incomplete in the study. We suggest that river basin stakeholders collaborate to construct transboundary basin water management institutions, build a transboundary basin water resources platform, and enhance exchanges and collaborations that address the issues that are connected to sustainable social and economic growth in basin countries.

6. Conclusions

Based on the analyses and statistics of various databases and reports, we identified and diagnosed water issues from water quantity, water quality, ecological stability and human health, and cooperation among watershed stakeholders. Our results revealed the following conclusions:
(1)
Between 1990 and 2019, the total water volume of China’s 14 major transboundary rivers did not change greatly, but all the of the rivers have experienced an earlier commencement of their summer flood seasons. The investigation of water events in the river basins was concentrated in three main topics: water distribution, water environment and treatment, and water conservation and hydropower development. Most of the countries sharing river basins do not cooperate or exchange information about possible disaster prevention.
(2)
The water issues among river basins differ. The Indus and Ganges River basins have the most challenges, while the Tarim River basin is the most fragile. The Ob River basin is comparatively ideal, as water management issues within the four aspects of it were not immediately apparent.
(3)
The same characteristics apply to water issues in transboundary basins that are located at the same geographic latitudes. The Ganges, Indus, Tarim, and Ili Basins are middle and low latitude, inland transboundary watersheds that suffer from poor water quality that is consistent with there being global population distribution at those latitudes. Also, the amount of spring flood water in Northeast China has increased noticeably. Such serious issues can spawn international water conflicts over water distribution, the water environment and treatment, and water conservation and hydropower development, especially in the low latitudes of the Southwest. These profound situations call for effective dialog and cooperation among transboundary river countries.
Last but not least, a cohesive management structure or agency should be established in transboundary basins in the future. The structure or agency will develop consistent standards for collecting more and broader watershed management data. Transboundary watershed stakeholders will be able to use these data to effectively address water management inadequacies, thereby promoting the sustainable development of the basin.

Author Contributions

L.W. developed the content and analyzed the data; A.L. contributed to the inter-country analysis, review, and corrections. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, grant number XDA20010201.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Figure 1. Transboundary rivers and their basins (differently colored) included in this study’s research area in China and the surrounding countries.
Figure 1. Transboundary rivers and their basins (differently colored) included in this study’s research area in China and the surrounding countries.
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Figure 2. Changes in the average flows per decade of 14 transboundary rivers in China (1990–2019). The graphs of the average estuarine runoffs of the transboundary rivers in this study are arranged by region: Southwest (top row), Northwest (middle row), and Northeast (bottom row), and were compiled from the Global Flood Awareness System’s seasonal forecast reanalysis data, a dataset that simulates river flow based on seasonal-scale SEAS5 weather forecasts and the LISFLOOD hydrological model ([36]). Changes in the number of accessible water resources in a given river basin can be efficiently conveyed by the average change of river caliber flow in each decade.
Figure 2. Changes in the average flows per decade of 14 transboundary rivers in China (1990–2019). The graphs of the average estuarine runoffs of the transboundary rivers in this study are arranged by region: Southwest (top row), Northwest (middle row), and Northeast (bottom row), and were compiled from the Global Flood Awareness System’s seasonal forecast reanalysis data, a dataset that simulates river flow based on seasonal-scale SEAS5 weather forecasts and the LISFLOOD hydrological model ([36]). Changes in the number of accessible water resources in a given river basin can be efficiently conveyed by the average change of river caliber flow in each decade.
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Figure 3. Level of water stress in major transboundary watersheds in China. Data were sourced from [37] The analysis was based on official 2018 water abstraction statistics from the World Food and Agriculture Organization’s Global Information System on Water and Agriculture (AQUASTAT), and they used their GloBWat model (https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/19/3829/2015/) to calculate total renewable freshwater resources and watershed water stress indicators. See Table 1 and Figure 1 for information about the three panels on the right.
Figure 3. Level of water stress in major transboundary watersheds in China. Data were sourced from [37] The analysis was based on official 2018 water abstraction statistics from the World Food and Agriculture Organization’s Global Information System on Water and Agriculture (AQUASTAT), and they used their GloBWat model (https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/19/3829/2015/) to calculate total renewable freshwater resources and watershed water stress indicators. See Table 1 and Figure 1 for information about the three panels on the right.
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Figure 4. Water quality in 14 transboundary river basins in China and the surrounding countries. The data were sourced from simulations of global water quality in Damania et al. [38]. They used machine learning methods to mimic three inland water quality indicators (i.e., biological oxygen demand, electrical conductivity and nitrogen content) on a global scale. This was done by combining site monitoring data with remote sensing data from the UN Environmental Programme’s GEMStat database. To calculate an overall water quality index that reflects the water of the study area, the simulated annual average values of the water quality indicators from 1992 to 2010 were summed and shown on heatmaps, with the worst water quality being shown in red. See Table 1 and Figure 1 for information about the three panels on the right.
Figure 4. Water quality in 14 transboundary river basins in China and the surrounding countries. The data were sourced from simulations of global water quality in Damania et al. [38]. They used machine learning methods to mimic three inland water quality indicators (i.e., biological oxygen demand, electrical conductivity and nitrogen content) on a global scale. This was done by combining site monitoring data with remote sensing data from the UN Environmental Programme’s GEMStat database. To calculate an overall water quality index that reflects the water of the study area, the simulated annual average values of the water quality indicators from 1992 to 2010 were summed and shown on heatmaps, with the worst water quality being shown in red. See Table 1 and Figure 1 for information about the three panels on the right.
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Figure 5. Forest cover (left) and drinking water statistics (right) as measures of the biological environments and public health, respectively, of 14 transboundary river basins in China. Using data of land categorization that were provided by Global Landuse30 ([39]), we assessed the levels of forest cover over three decades. The percentages of those populations without access to safe drinking water was determined from statistics gleaned from the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene ([40]).
Figure 5. Forest cover (left) and drinking water statistics (right) as measures of the biological environments and public health, respectively, of 14 transboundary river basins in China. Using data of land categorization that were provided by Global Landuse30 ([39]), we assessed the levels of forest cover over three decades. The percentages of those populations without access to safe drinking water was determined from statistics gleaned from the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene ([40]).
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Table
Table 1. Major transboundary river basins in China and the surrounding countries.
Table 1. Major transboundary river basins in China and the surrounding countries.
RegionBasin NameCountry
NortheastAmurChina-Russia-Mongolia
YaluChina-North Korea
TumenChina-North Korea-Russia
SujfunChina-Russia
NorthwestObChina-Kazakhstan-Russia
IliChina-Kazakhstan
TarimChina-Kyrgyzstan
SouthwestIrrawaddyChina-Myanmar
SalweenChina-Myanmar-Thailand
MekongChina-Myanmar-Laos-Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam
PearlChina-Vietnam
GangesChina-Bhutan-India-Bangladesh-Nepal
IndusChina-India-Pakistan-Afghanistan
RedChina-Vietnam-Laos
Table
Table 2. The water management diagnostic table and the four major diagnosis points.
Table 2. The water management diagnostic table and the four major diagnosis points.
Water Quantity Water QualityEcological Stability and
Human Health		Cooperation among Watershed Stakeholders
Normal StatusThe basin can obtain adequate water to support stable population and industry growth while upholding the ecological environment’s integrity.Every water quality indicator is healthy and capable of self-renewal. Humans sustainably use drinkable water for their daily needs and development.The watershed’s ecosystem is unaffected. Every type of organism can live a normal existence.Countries that border the basin allocate water per valid rules. Water conflicts are rare and international relations are peaceful and stable.
Problem Performance
  • Limited access to natural water sources;
  • Technical obstacles to the development of water resources;
  • Inability to meet population growth, economic expansion and rising water demands.
  • Abnormal biological, chemical and physical indicators.
  • The river embankment has sustained severe damage;
  • Poor water quality causes mortalities;
  • Not enough clean drinking water.
  • Stakeholders have varied opinions regarding the distribution of water;
  • Conflicts are caused by conservation development in affected nations;
  • Low level of watershed co-management.
IndicatorsAverage flow at the basin outlet (monthly) [36];
Water stress level in the watershed [37].		Biological oxygen demand [38];
Nitrogen [38];
Conductivity [38].		Forest cover rate [39];
Proportion of deaths due to water quality [40];
Proportion of population with safe drinking water [40].		Frequency of water conflict incidents [41].
Table
Table 3. Classifications and occurrences of transnational water-related dispute in each transboundary river basin in this study.
Table 3. Classifications and occurrences of transnational water-related dispute in each transboundary river basin in this study.
Basin NameWater
Distribution		Water
Environment and
Treatment		Water
Conservation and
Hydropower Development		Disaster
Prevention and Data Sharing		Other
Activities
NortheastAmur●●●●●●●●●●●●
Tumen●●None●●●None●
Sujfun●None●None●
YaluNone●●●●None●●●
NorthwestOb●●●●●●None●
Ili●●●●●NoneNone
Tarim●●●●NoneNone
SouthwestGanges●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
Indus●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
Red●None●●None●
Irrawaddy●None●●NoneNone
Mekong●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
Salween●●●●●●●●●●●None
PearlNoneNoneNoneNoneNone
* The number of dots represents the relative frequency of events among the 14 basins, with the greatest number of events being 8 and the lowest 0. So, each dot represents an interquartile range that is between 0 and 8 (i.e., 0–2 events is 1 dot, etc.). Because there were no water-related event data for the Pearl River basin, it was not included.
Table
Table 4. Summary of the main water management issues facing China’s 14 main transboundary river basins.
Table 4. Summary of the main water management issues facing China’s 14 main transboundary river basins.
BasinWater Management Issues
NortheastAmur
  • Poor water quality in the southern part of the basin.
Tumen and Sujfun
  • Ecological environment is stable;
  • High forest coverage;
  • Spring flood surges and then falls;
  • Poor water quality.
Yalu
  • High water demands.
NorthwestOb
  • No obvious water management issues.
Ili
  • Water volume varies greatly.
Tarim
  • The ecological environment is extremely fragile, and surface water quality in the vicinity of the Taklimakan Desert is poor.
SouthwestGanges and Indus
  • High water demands;
  • Poor water quality;
  • International relations are complicated, and water conflicts occur frequently.
Red and Irrawaddy
  • Poor water quality.
Mekong and Salween
  • International relations are complicated, and water conflicts occur frequently.
Pearl
  • No obvious water management issues.
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Wang, L.; Lv, A. Identification and Diagnosis of Transboundary River Basin Water Management in China and Neighboring Countries. Sustainability 2022, 14, 12360. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912360

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Wang L, Lv A. Identification and Diagnosis of Transboundary River Basin Water Management in China and Neighboring Countries. Sustainability. 2022; 14(19):12360. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912360

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Wang, Lei, and Aifeng Lv. 2022. "Identification and Diagnosis of Transboundary River Basin Water Management in China and Neighboring Countries" Sustainability 14, no. 19: 12360. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912360

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