Several Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on the Management of

Water Resources

（Adopted at the 41st Session of the 14th Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on November 23, 2017; amended in accordance with the Decision of the Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on Amending Twelve Local Rules Including the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Elderly Care Service and Repealing Six Local Rules Including the Provisions of Shanghai Municipality for the Protection and Development of Telecommunications adopted at the 9th Session of the Standing Committee of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on December 28, 2023）

Article 1

With a view to strictly protecting, conserving, rationally exploiting and utilizing water resources, giving full play to the comprehensive benefits of water resources, promoting the construction of ecological civilization, safeguarding and promoting the sustainable development of economy and society, these Provisions are formulated according to the Water Law of the People's Republic of China, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution and other relevant laws and administrative rules, and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.

Article 2

The municipal and district people's governments shall bring the protection and utilization of water resources, as well as safety of water use for life, production and ecosystem into the national economic and social development planning, strictly exercise the system of total water-use control, the system of water-use efficiency control, the system of pollutant limits in water function zones, and the system of water resources management responsibilities and appraisal to ensure the sustainable utilization of water resources.

Article 3

The municipal water administration department shall be responsible for the unified management and supervision of water resources in this Municipality. The law enforcement team of Shanghai Municipal Water Bureau (hereinafter referred to as the law enforcement team of the municipal water administration) shall carry out administrative penalties under the provisions of these Regulations.

The district water administration department shall, according to the administration authority, be responsible for the management and supervision of water resources in its administrative area.

The municipal departments of development and reform, planning and land resources, environmental protection, economic informatization, housing and urban and rural construction, transportation, agriculture, education, landscaping and city appearance, forestry, organ affairs, health and family planning shall, according to their respective duties and functions, do well the related management of water resources.

Article 4

The exploration and utilization of water resources shall make strict planning and management, and demonstration of water resources. The compilation of relevant plans and the layout of major projects shall be compatible with the carrying capacity of local water resources.

The water administration department shall conduct water resources demonstration when organizing the preparation of the regulatory detailed planning in the industrial park. The conclusion of water resources demonstration, after the comprehensive balance made by the planning preparing department, shall be brought into the planning compilation results.

If the demonstration of water resources has been carried out in the process of organizing the regulatory detailed planning of the industrial park, the water resources demonstration of the construction project in the area can be simplified according to the requirements of the relevant administrative examination and approval system reform.

Article 5

This Municipality shall exercise the total amount control of water intake and set up the control index system of total water intake. The municipal water administration department shall make the annual water intake plan according to the control index of total water intake, and carry out the total amount management of the annual water intake according to law.

Where the water intake has reached the control index, no new water intake shall be approved. The application for new water intake made by the extraordinary water intake unit whose water intake has reached the control index shall not be accepted any longer.

Article 6

This Municipality can delimit a certain range of buffer zones according to the needs of the protection of drinking water sources outside the drinking water source protection and quasi-protection areas. The plan for the delimitation and adjustment of the buffer zone shall be put forward by the municipal environmental protection administration together with the relevant administrative departments and the district people's government, and shall be promulgated and implemented after being approved by the Municipal People's Government. The specific requirements for the management of the buffer zone shall be formulated further by the Municipal People's Government.

This Municipality shall, on the principle of multi-source complementarity, mutual backup and interconnection, establish a joint dispatching mechanism for drinking water sources to ensure the safety of drinking water supply.

Article 7

This Municipality shall promote the waterworks' implementation of the deep purification treatment process to ensure that the water quality of the public water supply is superior to the national standard.

In the preparation of special water supply plan, the municipal water administration department shall make clear requirements for the deep purification treatment of tap water. The district people's government and the municipal planning and land administration department shall make overall plans for the construction land of the tap-water deep purification facilities when compiling the regulatory detailed plan.

Article 8

A water supply enterprise shall, according to the leakage of the water supply network, the material and the service life of the water supply pipe, formulate the transformation plan for the water supply network, and regularly submit reports on the transformation and implementation thereof to the water administration department.

The secondary water supply facilities management unit shall carry out daily maintenance, cleaning and disinfection, water quality testing, regular inspection and maintenance work of secondary water supply facilities according to the relevant provisions of this Municipality and local technical standards.

The secondary water supply facilities management unit shall take necessary safety precautions such as covering and locking for secondary water supply tanks and pump rooms to enhance the safety guarantee of the facilities.

Article 9

The water supply enterprise shall actively raise funds to carry out the deep purification treatment of tap water and the renovation of water supply network facilities. The municipal and district people's governments shall give necessary financial subsidies and support.

Article 10

The administrative departments of environmental protection, water affairs, health and family planning shall monitor and evaluate the water quality and drinking water safety status of drinking water sources, public water supply, secondary water supply and the water tap effluent in the administrative area.

Article 11

This Municipality shall formulate the water-use efficiency index system, establish and improve water-saving mechanisms, support the innovation and application of water-saving technology and technique, popularize water-saving devices and appliances, cultivate and develop water-saving industries, and promote the construction of water-saving society.

The water administration department shall strengthen the water quota and plan management, and make real-time monitoring of the water intake and water consumption of key water intake units and key water consumption units.

The municipal and district people's governments and related departments, schools, news media, communities and social organizations shall carry out water-saving publicity and water saving knowledge popularization, enhance the awareness of water-saving in the whole society, and advocate water-saving and environment-friendly production and life style.

Article 12

Water intake units and water consumption units shall strengthen the management of water intake and water use facilities so as to ensure the balance of water. The unit of water intake and water consumption reaching to a certain scale shall carry out a water balance test every five years; rectification shall be made in time when any problems are found in the test process. The water balance test and rectification shall be filed with the water administration department within fifteen days from the date of completion of the test.

The water administration department shall organize professional test agencies to conduct water balance test for some water intake units and water use units annually according to the actual situation of such units and needs of water saving management.

The results of water balance test can be used as the basis of water intake assessment and verification of water use plan.

Article 13

Water units in industries, services and other industries shall adopt water-saving technologies, techniques and equipment, and take measures such as water recycling, comprehensive utilization and waste water treatment and reuse, so as to reduce water consumption and improve water reuse.

This Municipality shall spread the efficient water saving irrigation techniques such as sprinkler irrigation, micro irrigation and low pressure pipeline water transfer to improve the effective utilization coefficient of agricultural irrigation water and the efficiency of agricultural water use.

New buildings shall be installed with water-saving equipment and appliances. The public buildings already erected without water-saving equipment or appliance installed shall be gradually updated and renovated.

This Municipality shall exercise the step water price for domestic water of residents and guide the residents to choose water-saving domestic appliances and form a good habit of water saving.

Article 14

The municipal water administration department, shall, together with the relevant administrative departments of this Municipality, prepare special plans for water affairs, including the special contents of unconventional water resources exploration and utilization.

The new large public buildings and green space, parks and industrial parks shall, according to the standards and regulations, have low impact rainwater development facilities built. The construction of sewage treatment plants shall, according to the planning and relevant regulations, have reclaimed water conservancy facilities built.

Water use for municipal works, greening, environmental sanitation, construction and ecological landscapes shall give priority to rainwater and reclaimed water that meet the standards of water quality.

Article 15

This Municipality shall strengthen the management of pollutant limits in the water function zones, strictly control the development behavior with a significant impact on the water quality, strictly control the setting-up of river outfalls and the total emission of pollutants, ensure the compliance with standard of water quality and water ecological safety in water function zones, and maintain the water area function and ecological service function.

Article 16

Those engaged in industry, construction, catering, medical care, livestock breeding, slaughtering, hotel and restaurant services with disinfection drainage, scientific research with chemical experiment drainage and repair activities of trains, rail vehicles and cars, and enterprises, public institutions and individual businesses that discharge sewage to urban drainage facilities (hereinafter referred to as the drainage households) shall apply to the water administration department for the license for sewage discharge into the drainage network according to law.

Article 17

The sewage discharged by the drainage households shall conform to the relevant standards of the sewage discharge set by the State and this Municipality. The water administration department shall monitor the water quality of the sewage discharged by drainage households. The drainage households that are included in the key monitoring shall install automatic monitoring devices according to the relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality, connect with the monitoring devices of the water administration department, ensure the normal operation of the monitoring equipment, and be responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of the data.

The drainage households under key monitoring that are also included in the list of key pollutant discharge units by the environmental protection administration department shall have the installation, operation and management of their automatic monitoring devices follow the relevant provisions of these Regulations of Shanghai on Environmental Protection. The environmental protection administration department shall share the monitoring data with the water administration department.

Article 18

The Municipal People's Government may, according to the actual situation of this Municipality, formulate local standards for projects that are not regulated by the national standards for the discharge of sewage into the urban drainage facilities, and local standards, if necessary, for projects already specified by the national standards shall be stricter than the national standards.

Article 19

The municipal water administration department shall strictly control the water intake permission of the groundwater and supervise the drilling and filling operation of deep wells and prevent the pollution of the groundwater. With no renewal or no approval of the renewal application after the expiration of the period of validity of the groundwater permit, the deep well owner shall, within six months from the expiration of the permit, organize the operations of well sealing and backfilling by itself according to the requirements of the State and this Municipality.

If a deep well is needed to be used as a recharge well or for emergency water supply facilities upon evaluation by the municipal water administration department after the validity of the groundwater intake permit expires, the municipal water administration department may, through the purchase of public services, entrust the operation and maintenance with the ownership unit and may also entrust a third party agency to make operation and maintenance.

Article 20

The municipal water administration department shall, together with the municipal environmental protection administration department, determine the restricted pollutant total discharge of water area according to the requirements of the water function area for water quality and the natural purification capacity of the water body.

The district people's government shall take the restricted pollutant total discharge of water area as an important basis for water pollution control and pollution reduction, and improve the emission control mechanism and assessment system. The district people's government shall formulate and implement a rectification plan for the water function area which has not reached the standard, and set a time limit to reach the set control target of the water function area.

Article 21

The municipal and district people's governments shall strengthen the comprehensive treatment of rivers through measures such as water bank linkage, sewage interception and pollution control, water system communication, water body regulation, water quality improvement and ecological restoration.

The water administration department shall, in conjunction with the environmental protection administration department, formulate each year the regional river and lake health assessment plan, with key points put on the evaluation of water quality, hydrology, aquatic organisms, sediment, water resources development and utilization of main rivers, rivers in the drinking water source protection zone and other rivers in need of evaluation. The health assessment of the rivers and lakes shall be the basis for the protection and control of the rivers. The water administration department can entrust third parties to carry out the health assessment of the rivers and lakes.

The municipal water administration department shall, according to provisions on the administration of water resource scheduling, make the water resource scheduling scheme of the water conservancy control section, and organize the implementation thereof. The district water administration department shall compile the water resources scheduling plan of the area under its jurisdiction according to the water resources scheduling plan of the water conservancy control section, and implement it after getting approval of the municipal water administration department.

Article 22

The municipal water administration department shall, jointly with the municipal departments of planning and land resources, landscaping and city appearance, forestry, environmental protection and agriculture, set the municipal and district level river and lake water area ratio control index and that of beach renovated into land area, and conduct regular monitoring of the change of the river and lake water area ratio.

It is forbidden to block any river without authorization. If a river is to be blocked  in need of construction and with approval of the Municipal People's Government as required, the construction unit shall make it according to the order of prior excavation and then blockade, and the river area of new excavation shall be greater than the blockade area.

Article 23

This Municipality shall exercise the river administrator system, establish city, district and sub-district (town/township) three-tier river administrator system, and set up the corresponding river general administrator and river administrator to organize and direct, by level and segment, the water pollution prevention and control, water environment management, river and lake water area ratio control, river and lake water area shoreline management, water resource protection and water ecological restoration work in the administrative areas.

The river general administrators at all levels shall be responsible for the organization and leadership, the decision-making, the assessment and supervision of the river administrator system on headway in the area under jurisdiction, and for solving of major problems in the process of the implementation of the river administrator system. The river administrators at all levels are mainly responsible for organizing and directing the management, protection and comprehensive improvement of the corresponding rivers, urging the relevant administrative departments and the lower river administrators to perform their duties, and make assessment and accountability of the fulfillment of goals and tasks.

The district people's government can set up a village (residents') river administrator according to needs, mainly responsible for river patrol, illegal behavior dissuading and matters reporting according to the provisions.

The list of river administrators shall be announced to the public through the bulletin board of river administrators and the relevant government websites. The river administrators' publicity board shall be erected at the prominent position of the river, marking the name, duties, river profiles, management and protection objectives, supervision methods and such other contents, and accept social supervision. The information of the river administrator, if changed, shall be updated in time.

Article 24

The Municipal People's Government shall, according to the relevant provisions of the State, establish a water pollution control coordination mechanism with relevant provinces in the Yangtze River Delta region, share the information on the source of water pollution, water environment quality and contingent water pollution accident impacted by trans-boundary water source, and matters of regular consultation of regional water resources utilization and pollution discharge control, so as to coordinate and solve the prominent problem of water environment.

Article 25

The Municipal People's Government shall assess the implementation of the water resources management system by the district people's government. The results of the assessment are the important basis for the annual comprehensive assessment and evaluation of the main leaders and leading groups of the district people's government.

Article 26

The municipal water administration department shall, jointly with the relevant administrative departments, establish and improve the water resources management information system, and carry out dynamic supervision of the water quality of water source land, water intake quantity and water supply quality, outlet water quality and quantity. water quantity and quality of pollution discharge outfalls of rivers, and water quality of key water function zones.

Article 27

The water supply enterprise shall regularly publish the information of water quality, water quantity, and water pressure tested by itself to the general public. The information data of water supply production and service shall be connected to this Municipality’s water resources management information system as required.

The administrative departments of water, environmental protection, health, and family planning shall, according to the division of duties, publish to the public according to law a list of units of large water intake, key water intake and use, and drainage under key monitoring, and the information on monitoring results of drinking water sources, public water supply, secondary water supply, users' tap water outlet, river treatment and water environment.

Article 28

The water administration department shall publish the telephone number or network platform for reports and complaints to accept reports and complaints.

Any unit or individual has the right to report and complain about the illegal activities of the water administration department, the municipal water authority law enforcement corps, and their law enforcement officers that do not perform their duties according to law. The organs that receive reports and complaints shall make timely investigations and feedbacks on the results according to their duties.

Article 29

For violation of the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 12 of these Provisions, the unit of water intake and the unit of water use fail to fulfill relevant obligations, the law enforcement corps of the municipal water bureau and the district water administration department shall order for rectification within a limited time, and shall impose penalty according to the following provisions:

1. For failure to make the water balance test as required, a fine of not less than 10,000 but not more than 50,000 yuan shall be imposed; for failure to make rectification at the expiration of the prescribed time, the water administration department may deduct the target of water intake and water consumption by below thirty percent.

2. For failure to be filed as required and failure to make rectification at expiration of the prescribed time, a fine of not less than 5,000 but not more than 30,000 yuan shall be imposed.

Article 30

For failure to install and use the automatic monitoring equipment as required, or failure to connect the monitoring equipment of the water administration department and ensure the normal operation of the monitoring equipment as required, in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 17 of these Provisions, the law enforcement corps of the municipal water bureau and the district water administration department shall order rectification and impose a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan and but not more than 200,000 yuan; for failure to make rectification at expiration of the prescribed time, production and business suspending for rectification shall be ordered.

Article 31

In violation of the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 19 of these Provisions, an ownership unit that fails to seal or backfile a well as required shall be ordered by the law enforcement corps of the municipal water bureau and the district water administration department to make the rectification, and shall be imposed a fine of not less than 100000 yuan but not more than 500000 yuan. Where a unit is incapable of well sealing or backfilling, the water administration department or a non-interested third party entrusted by the department shall seal or backfire the well according to law, and the cost needed shall be borne by the ownership unit.

Article 32

A construction unit that blocks a river course not in compliance with the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 22 of these Provisions shall be ordered by the law enforcement corps of the Municipal Water Bureau and the district water administration department to make rectification within the prescribed time limit or take other remedial measures, and is liable to a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan; for failure to make rectification or to take other remedial measures at expiration of the prescribed time limit, the water administration department or its authorized non-interested third party shall make rectification or take other remedial measures on behalf according to law, and the cost needed shall be borne by the construction unit.

Article 33

These Provisions shall be effective as of January 1, 2018. The Procedures of Shanghai Municipality for Implementation of the Water Law of the People's Republic of China adopted by the 37th Session of the Standing Committee of the 9th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on October 17, 1992 shall be abolished at the same time.