The river chief system and agricultural non-point source water pollution control in China
As part of their efforts to control water pollution, local governments in China introduced the river chief system, whereby a named individual undertakes responsibility for protecting a specified waterway. As one of the most prominent sources of water pollution, agricultural non-point-source (NPS) po...
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doaj-480a388dab4a44e7b7a137966a3b36c72021-06-08T04:43:05ZengElsevierJournal of Integrative Agriculture2095-31192021-05-0120513821395The river chief system and agricultural non-point source water pollution control in ChinaLi ZHOU0Ling-zhi LI1Ji-kun HUANG2College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P.R.China; Correspondence ZHOU Li; HUANG Ji-kun, Tel: +86-10-62765603, Fax: +86-10-62767145College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P.R.ChinaChina Center for Agricultural Policy, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R.China; Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, P.R.China; Correspondence ZHOU Li; HUANG Ji-kun, Tel: +86-10-62765603, Fax: +86-10-62767145As part of their efforts to control water pollution, local governments in China introduced the river chief system, whereby a named individual undertakes responsibility for protecting a specified waterway. As one of the most prominent sources of water pollution, agricultural non-point-source (NPS) pollution is becoming increasingly serious. Determining whether the river chief system, an institutional reform in China's decentralized environmental regulation regime, is effective in alleviating NPS pollution is important for the realization of green development. The effect of the river chief system on reducing agricultural NPS pollution is explored in this study using panel data from 308 Chinese counties during the period from 2004 to 2015. The results reveal that the negative impact of manure output from animal breeding operations on surface water quality is reduced with the implementation of the river chief system. However, the river chief system is ineffective in dealing with the water pollution caused by fertilizer use. Furthermore, in the current system, cooperation among river chiefs only occurs within a province. Local governments should increase their efforts in reducing fertilizer source loads and preventing fertilizer loads from entering surface waters. In addition, the central government should improve cooperation among the river chiefs in upstream and downstream provinces.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095311920633706river chief systemagricultural non-point-source pollutionsurface water qualityfertilizer uselivestock and poultry breeding |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Li ZHOU Ling-zhi LI Ji-kun HUANG |
spellingShingle |
Li ZHOU Ling-zhi LI Ji-kun HUANG The river chief system and agricultural non-point source water pollution control in China Journal of Integrative Agriculture river chief system agricultural non-point-source pollution surface water quality fertilizer use livestock and poultry breeding |
author_facet |
Li ZHOU Ling-zhi LI Ji-kun HUANG |
author_sort |
Li ZHOU |
title |
The river chief system and agricultural non-point source water pollution control in China |
title_short |
The river chief system and agricultural non-point source water pollution control in China |
title_full |
The river chief system and agricultural non-point source water pollution control in China |
title_fullStr |
The river chief system and agricultural non-point source water pollution control in China |
title_full_unstemmed |
The river chief system and agricultural non-point source water pollution control in China |
title_sort |
river chief system and agricultural non-point source water pollution control in china |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
Journal of Integrative Agriculture |
issn |
2095-3119 |
publishDate |
2021-05-01 |
description |
As part of their efforts to control water pollution, local governments in China introduced the river chief system, whereby a named individual undertakes responsibility for protecting a specified waterway. As one of the most prominent sources of water pollution, agricultural non-point-source (NPS) pollution is becoming increasingly serious. Determining whether the river chief system, an institutional reform in China's decentralized environmental regulation regime, is effective in alleviating NPS pollution is important for the realization of green development. The effect of the river chief system on reducing agricultural NPS pollution is explored in this study using panel data from 308 Chinese counties during the period from 2004 to 2015. The results reveal that the negative impact of manure output from animal breeding operations on surface water quality is reduced with the implementation of the river chief system. However, the river chief system is ineffective in dealing with the water pollution caused by fertilizer use. Furthermore, in the current system, cooperation among river chiefs only occurs within a province. Local governments should increase their efforts in reducing fertilizer source loads and preventing fertilizer loads from entering surface waters. In addition, the central government should improve cooperation among the river chiefs in upstream and downstream provinces. |
topic |
river chief system agricultural non-point-source pollution surface water quality fertilizer use livestock and poultry breeding |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095311920633706 |
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