Local responses to too much and too little water in the greater Himalayan region
The three villages are located in Longyang District, including dikes, gates, and pumping systems. In this
Baoshan Municipality, which is famous for its high rural mountain region, the central government heavily
production of grain (almost 1 million tonnes in 2007) subsidised large infrastructure construction.
and intensive cultivation of cash crops, including
coffee, sugarcane, off-season vegetables, tobacco, Household Responsibility System (HRS) – Since 1979,
and walnuts. The three sites have distinct wet and the communes have been dissolved gradually to
dry seasons with precipitation mainly concentrated introduce the HRS. The government allocated farmland
in May-October due to the influence of the Indian to individual households according to the size of the
monsoon. Daojie and Taokong are in the Salween River family and availability of land. Individual households
watershed; Baicai is in the Mekong River watershed (see now make their own decisions on agricultural production
Figure 5). and selling their products in the market. Although some
• Daojie village is in a low, dry-hot valley with
large infrastructure facilities have been privatised, most
little precipitation (~ 740 mm) and very high
are still owned by local government or collectively, but
evaporation. Its climate is suitable for tropical cash
are managed through contracts with private agents.
crops like off-season vegetables, sugarcane, and
coffee.
Climate – change and uncertainty
• Taokong village is at a mid-elevation, which has
moderate precipitation (1,000 mm). It sits in a wide
Regional climate change studies show that the change
valley suitable for intensive agriculture and tobacco
of surface temperature in Yunnan province (0.015°C per
and it has good access to Baoshan City, with
year) from 1901~2005 has been slightly higher than
markets for farm produce.
the global average and a little less than the averages
• Baicai village is in the highlands with high
for the Northern Hemisphere and China (Cheng and Xie
precipitation (almost 2,000mm). Its inhabitants
2008). However, temperature changes at the three sites
depend on forest products, NTFPs, and livestock
present a complex picture.
production.
Since the 1980s, temperatures in Daojie (the arid
valley site) have gradually decreased by 0.5°C. In
Political change – from People’s Commune to
the other two sites at higher elevations, temperatures
Household Responsibility
have increased by almost 1°C over the same period.
Rural institutions in Yunnan differed greatly in two
Throughout the past few decades, inter-seasonal, inter-
historical phases: the People’s Commune phase
annual, and spatial variability in rainfall trends has been
before 1978 and the Household Responsibility System
dramatic at all meteorological stations in Baoshan, with
since 1979. This transformation brought a significant
both increasing and decreasing trends (see Figure 6).
change in land use decisions, property rights, tenure
arrangements, and the role of markets in production
Ma et al. (2008) found that the monthly rainfall in
planning. The shift in governance affected the capacity
Longyang District increased during the past 50 years
of communities and households to adapt to climate
by 43.1% and 54.9% in May and September and
change.
decreased by 27.6% and 14.4% in June and July,
respectively. The increase in May rainfall suggests an
The People’s Commune phase – In the 1950s, the
earlier onset of the monsoon. The change in monthly
central government collectivised all assets (lands,
rainfall from May to September indicates monsoonal
machinery, and livestock). For almost 30 years, it
variability and less water availability during the main
planned land use and allocated a quota for grain
summer crop-growing season.
production to each People’s Commune. Labour was
organised collectively for farming and infrastructure
Impacts of Water Stresses and
development. The government could mobilise massive
Hazards
numbers of people to construct large reservoirs,
irrigation channels, drainage systems, and terraces.
The impacts of changes in water supply and climate
It responded to population growth in rural China by
in the studied locations vary greatly depending on
constructing large-scale water infrastructure to support
elevation, environmental conditions, and on the
food self-sufficiency and disaster prevention. Government
socioeconomic situation of rural inhabitants.
technicians or the communes maintained water facilities
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