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<p>Water resources are paramount for human livelihoods, particularly for agrarian communities in developing nations where it serves as the fundamental constraint on agricultural productivity and rural prosperity. Water rights, as a key tool for sustainable water resource management, possess the potential to elevate farmers’ economic income and improve their livelihoods. Utilizing provincial-level datasets combined with micro-level evidence from 7,970 rural households, this study evaluated the income effects of China’s national water rights pilot program on farmers’ income. And we examined the differential outcomes through the dual institutional lenses characteristic of China’s public ownership framework: the water rights registration (WRR) mechanism and water rights trading (WRT) markets. Our research indicated that WRR significantly increased farmers’ income, while pilot areas emphasizing on WRT did not show a significant positive effect. Regarding the mechanisms, WRR increased farmers’ incomes through improving agricultural water use efficiency, adjusting crop structure, and increasing agricultural fixed asset investment. On the other hand, WRT primarily promote rural households to shift to high-value-added agricultural production and non-agricultural employment in rural areas. The limited efficacy of WRT stems fundamentally from institutional design challenges inherent in the quasi-public nature of water resources. The effective implementation of WRT requires comprehensive institutional refinement and strategic policy support. This necessitates cultivating stronger farmer participation incentives, amplifying economic inducements, and optimizing market conditions. Such systemic enhancements constitute essential prerequisites for actualizing WRT’s potential to elevate agricultural incomes. Our findings can serve as policy references for further refining and promoting water rights as the core for sustainable water resource management, thereby improving farmers’ livelihoods and promoting sustainable development in rural areas.</p>

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Sustainable water resources management and farmers’ livelihood: lessons from water rights reform in China

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月18日

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  • Yilun Liu,
  • Hengquan Zhang,
  • Chenjun Zhang

摘要

Water resources are paramount for human livelihoods, particularly for agrarian communities in developing nations where it serves as the fundamental constraint on agricultural productivity and rural prosperity. Water rights, as a key tool for sustainable water resource management, possess the potential to elevate farmers’ economic income and improve their livelihoods. Utilizing provincial-level datasets combined with micro-level evidence from 7,970 rural households, this study evaluated the income effects of China’s national water rights pilot program on farmers’ income. And we examined the differential outcomes through the dual institutional lenses characteristic of China’s public ownership framework: the water rights registration (WRR) mechanism and water rights trading (WRT) markets. Our research indicated that WRR significantly increased farmers’ income, while pilot areas emphasizing on WRT did not show a significant positive effect. Regarding the mechanisms, WRR increased farmers’ incomes through improving agricultural water use efficiency, adjusting crop structure, and increasing agricultural fixed asset investment. On the other hand, WRT primarily promote rural households to shift to high-value-added agricultural production and non-agricultural employment in rural areas. The limited efficacy of WRT stems fundamentally from institutional design challenges inherent in the quasi-public nature of water resources. The effective implementation of WRT requires comprehensive institutional refinement and strategic policy support. This necessitates cultivating stronger farmer participation incentives, amplifying economic inducements, and optimizing market conditions. Such systemic enhancements constitute essential prerequisites for actualizing WRT’s potential to elevate agricultural incomes. Our findings can serve as policy references for further refining and promoting water rights as the core for sustainable water resource management, thereby improving farmers’ livelihoods and promoting sustainable development in rural areas.