ABSTRACT
Water is the essence of life. Water plays a key role in food security, energy production, ecosystem development, economic growth, social stability, and poverty reduction. Water resource management is one of the main battlefields in moving toward the “ecological civilization” in China, as well as in fulfilling China’s commitment to implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs). In the section “Risk of Unsustainability and the Way Forward”, the question on the risk of unsustainability of the River Chief Mechanism will be raised and analyzed. This chapter offers recommendations for substantial transformation in order to achieve sustainable water resource management in China. It analyzes the uncertainty of implementing the (SDGs) globally and provides some recommendations in actions taken to ensure the implementation. The availability and quality of water resources vary from country to country and from region to region, which makes water one of the key influencing elements on local social and economic development.
