Economics & Development

Over the past several decades, China has made remarkable progress in addressing one of the most fundamental constraints to its development: water scarcity. With only six percent of the world’s freshwater resources and a fifth of the global population, China’s ability to support its economic growth, urbanization, and agricultural productivity has depended on a strategic, systematic approach to managing water. The success of this first water transition, anchored in strong governance, major infrastructure investments, and national policy innovations such as the 'Most Stringent Water Resources Management Policy' and 'Water as a Rigid Constraint', has laid a foundation that few other countries have matched. Yet, China now stands at a turning point. New pressures, including mounting demand across sectors, intensifying climate risks, and ecosystem degradation, are testing the limits of existing systems. These challenges have been brought to the fore by a new national ambition: the construction of an ecological civilization. This vision places ecological sustainability at the center of the country’s development path and requires a fundamental rethinking of water’s role in that transformation. This joint study by the World Bank and the General Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Planning and Design at China’s Ministry of Water Resources (GIWP/MWR) traces the foundations of China’s water governance, explores new pressures and emerging paradigms of ecological water management, and provides a roadmap for future reform by introducing the Water–Human–Economy–Nature (WHEN) Nexus as a framework for China’s second water transition. The WHEN Nexus builds on China’s successes, addresses remaining challenges, and offers a unifying approach to integrate water’s multiple roles in society, the economy, and ecosystems, placing water at the center of China’s path toward resilience, sustainability, and ecological civilization.

The development objective of the Second Strengthening Water and Irrigation Management Project for Tajikistan is to increase the efficiency of water and energy use and improve irrigation service delivery. Responding to worsening water scarcity, aging and energy‑intensive irrigation assets, and climate variability that undermine agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods, the operation scales up institutional reforms and targeted investments initiated under earlier efforts to deliver more reliable, climate‑resilient services and reduce operating costs. The World Bank will support institutional reforms and strengthened service delivery by: consolidating basin‑aligned management through Basin Irrigation Scheme Administrations (BISAs); improving scheme governance and financial sustainability for irrigation providers and Water User Associations (WUAs), including performance monitoring and volume‑based billing; advancing policy instruments such as pricing and subsidy frameworks, updated irrigation norms, and mechanisms for a Carbon Finance Program; exploring Public Private Partnership (PPP) options for operations and maintenance; and building human capital and inclusion with youth engagement, targeted training, and mentorship to increase women’s participation in technical and leadership roles. The project will drive digital transformation of the sector by establishing and operationalizing an Irrigation Management Information System (IMIS) and strengthening the National Water Information System (NWIS), installing flow‑measurement and telemetry at bulk delivery points and within WUAs, and creating monitoring and control rooms to enable data‑driven planning and operations. Physical investments will modernize critical infrastructure to bolster climate adaptation and reduce energy intensity, including rehabilitation of approximately twenty pumped irrigation stations nationwide and priority works in gravity systems, canal lining and regulation, drainage rehabilitation, groundwater management where needed, and modernization of key facilities such as the Dangara diversion tunnel, the Beshkent hydrotechnical facility, and the Dekhqonobod and Khalqayor diversion works, with fish and waste protection and efficient electro‑mechanical equipment where applicable. Implementation will be led by the Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation (ALRI) and the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MEWR), with strengthened environmental and social risk management, citizen engagement, and grievance redress mechanisms. The project intends to deliver measurable results including improved conveyance efficiency and delivery performance, about 100,000 hectares with improved irrigation and drainage services, energy savings and associated reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and enhanced service reliability benefiting an estimated 470,000 people, while expanding sector capacity through training, digital tools, and performance‑based management to sustain operations and maintenance and improve cost recovery.