The Water and Society Symposium was held on Nov. 20 by the Center for Environmental and Social Studies in the Yangtze River Delta and Hohai University (HHU) in Nanjing.

The sociology of water conservation has not progressed as much as scholars expected. Scholars at the symposium reflected on the status quo and brainstormed on suggestions for the future development of the sociology of water conservation.

Water conservation in the narrow sense refers to irrigation and flood prevention, while in the broad sense, it refers to all water issues in human society, including the use of water and the prevention of disasters caused by water, said Chen Ajiang, director of the Center for Environmental and Social Studies at HHU.

Water conservation refers normally to irrigation, water supply, flood control and drainage, while the issues of water include not only water conservation and other exploitation activities of water resources, such as hydroelectricity and water transportation, but also ecological water-related activities, such as pollution control as well as soil and water conservation, said Shi Guoqing, director of the Institute of Social Development at HHU. Shi said water sociology should be more of an exact concept than the sociology of water conservation.

Zheng Xiaoyun, a research fellow from the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, said the management of water environment and the sustainable utilization of water resources today require not only the development of engineering technology and legal mechanisms but also the establishment of a harmonious relationship between humans and water resources. Resolving water-related social problems and establishing a social environment favorable to water protection requires the development of water sociology, he said.

Many ancient human civilizations were established through the development of irrigation technologies, Zheng said. The construction of irrigating facilities not only shapes agricultural modes and production patterns but also lays the foundation for new social and organizational systems, social norms, economic relations and many other cultures related to irrigation, he said.

Zhang Junfeng, a professor of social history from Shanxi University, said the relationship between the land and water changes as insufficient water supply and growing population increases tensions between humans and the land. During the process, water even gains commercial value, and sometimes just selling the water rights will bring the owner rich economic interest, he said.

Scholars of sociology should pay more attention to such issues as the improvement of water environment, the management of water-related disasters and the effects environmental migrations have on the management of water-related disasters, said Song Linfei, former chairman of the Chinese Sociological Association.

Shi said the studies on water sociology should, first of all, establish a theoretical framework that includes the basic principles and methods. Then, more sophisticated sociological studies on issues, such as water resources, environment, ecology and disasters, should be carried out, he added. For example, more efforts should be made to address such issues as how water-related activities affect poverty, social gender and traditional culture as well as the social influence and risk of utilization of inter-basin and international waters, he said.

At the starting point, research on water sociology should not be too ambitious, and attention should be paid to more urgent and practical social problems and phenomena, Zheng suggested.