The two departments issue a model text to promote healthy and orderly development of water-saving contract management

A reporter learned on the 12th from the Ministry of Water Resources that the Ministry of Water Resources and the State Administration for Market Regulation recently jointly issued the 《Service Contract for Contract-Based Water-Saving Management Projects (Model Text)》, for water supply and use entities and water-saving service providers to use as a reference. Contract-based water-saving management is an effective way to implement the policy of prioritizing water conservation. A relevant official from the Ministry of Water Resources said that the purpose of issuing the model text is to establish and improve the contract-based water-saving management system, standardize the implementation of contract-based water-saving management projects, give full play to the roles of an effective market and a government that acts, and promote the healthy and orderly development of contract-based water-saving management.

According to the introduction, the model text mainly includes seven areas: project overview, project implementation and operation, water-saving quantity verification and revenue distribution, the rights and obligations of both parties, contract amendments, suspension and termination, liability for breach of contract, and other matters. The provisions of the text precisely align with the characteristics of contract-based water-saving management projects, and, focusing on the three major areas of agricultural water-saving and efficiency gains, industrial water-saving and emissions reduction, and urban water-saving and loss reduction, it lists different application scenarios for projects applicable to contract-based water-saving management. It also provides key information on various ways to share water-saving benefits, such as benefit-sharing based on water-saving effects, water-saving performance guarantee-based arrangements, water-fee custodianship arrangements, and integrated agricultural service custodianship arrangements.

The reporter learned that, at present, contract-based water-saving management is being comprehensively promoted across the three major areas of agricultural water-saving and efficiency gains, industrial water-saving and emissions reduction, and urban water-saving and loss reduction. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, a total of 2,488 contract-based water-saving management projects were implemented nationwide, with an annual water-saving amount of 930 million cubic meters. (Xinhua News Agency)