Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106;
State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control & Resource Reuse, School of Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jul 20;118(29). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2015175118.
Water pollution is a persistent problem in China, in part, because local governments fail to implement water quality standards set by national and provincial authorities. These higher authorities often lack regular information about the immediate and long-term achievement of remediation targets. Accordingly, central authorities have encouraged nongovernmental organizations to monitor local governments' remediation efforts. This study examines whether nongovernmental monitoring of urban waterways improves water quality by facilitating oversight of local governments or instigating public action for remediation. We randomly assigned urban waterways in Jiangsu province previously identified for remediation to be monitored by a partner nongovernmental organization for 15 mo. We further randomized whether the resulting information was disseminated to local and provincial governments, the public, or both. Disseminating results from monitoring to local and provincial governments improved water quality, but disseminating results to the public did not have detectable effects on water quality or residents' pursuit of remediation through official and volunteer channels. Monitoring can improve resource management when it provides information that makes local resource managers accountable to higher authorities.
水污染在中国是一个长期存在的问题，部分原因是地方政府未能执行国家和省级当局制定的水质标准。这些上级当局往往缺乏关于修复目标的短期和长期实现情况的定期信息。因此，中央当局鼓励非政府组织监督地方政府的修复工作。本研究通过促进对地方政府的监督或引发公众采取修复行动，考察了非政府监督城市水道是否可以改善水质。我们随机选择了江苏省以前确定要进行修复的城市水道，由一个合作伙伴的非政府组织进行 15 个月的监测。我们进一步随机选择监测结果是向地方和省政府、公众还是两者都公布。将监测结果向地方和省政府公布可以改善水质，但向公众公布结果对水质或居民通过官方和志愿渠道寻求修复没有明显影响。当监测提供的信息使地方资源管理者对上级负责时，监测可以改善资源管理。
