入海河口河海分界的若干思考

Some considerations on the boundary between river and sea in an estuary

河口是河海之间从陆地因素为主向海洋因素为主转化的过渡地区。关于入海河口的河海分界问题,国际上已有法律先例。在法律方面,相关部门对有关法律、法规的理解不同,对河海界限存在不同认识。在自然科学方面,存在着不同的专业强调不同的划界方法的问题;在管理方面,存在着根据各自认为的管理权限提出的河海界限问题。世界各国的海洋管理实践证明,河口属于海岸带综合管理的重要区域。研究河海划分的科学问题,目的是为了管理,但管理不仅依赖于自然科学,同样也依赖于社会科学。河口属于"国家所有",无论哪个政府部门都是代表国家行使管理权利。不管哪个部门,在河口区管理过程中,都必须根据有关法律法规,从严管理,为可持续发展服务。河口管理应该有利于生态系统的维护和保全,坚持以生态系统为基础的管理。

The determination of the boundary between river and sea is a key issue in the management of an estuary which involves water authorities and ocean authorities, and agencies such as navigation, land administration, environmental protection, fisheries, forestry and even urban water supply. Interlinked with different administrative rules and benefits, conflicts or contradictions are easy to be induced in the estuarine management. Without the determination of the boundary between land and sea, the conflicts will never stop. Therefore, it is imperative to adopt certain scientific criteria to have the boundary determined. Although China has no definite legislative definition about the boundary of an estuary, however, state standards, such as The Pattern of Sea Charts in China（GB 12319--1998） and The Terminology of Marine Geology（GB/T 18190--2000） have provided a clear definition of an estuary. No agency argued about the definition before the conflicts about the demarcation between land and sea was in the air and every agency has been fulfilling its own responsibility within the range defined in these national standards. Many references for legal demarcation between land and sea are available in other countries in the world. The conflicts among various agencies in the course of the demarcation between land and sea are resulted from their different understanding of concerning laws or regulations. The definitions of an estuary in terms of natural sciences fail to draw its concrete boundary due to the generalization of the definitions. Different demarcation criteria should be applied to different estuaries and different specialized trade adopts different methodologies in the demarcation and different competent authorities for an estuary proposes different range and boundaries in accordance with their different understandings. The best practices concerning ocean governance in the world have proved that an estuary is an important and integral component in the integrated coastal zone management. In order to strengthen the management and to define the responsibilities of various authorities, it is imperative to draw a management line in an estuary. The scientific studies on the demarcation between land and sea aim to provide a scientific basis for the management of estuary and it is understandable that any management should rely not only on natural sciences but also social sciences. Any estuary is owned by the state and every competent agency is executing the rights of administration on behalf of the state. This is in line with the idea of stewardship governance advocated more recently in the world. It is recommended to follow this idea to do a good job of coordination in the demarcation of land and sea lines in an estuary. Firstly, the competent agencies should adopt the policy of ＂being mandated by the people＂ and ＂being responsible for the people＂ and put emphasis on management responsibility instead of power exercise. Secondly, attention should be paid to the seasonal utilization of an estuary, for example, flood discharge plays the first role during the flood season and it is not the case during other seasons. Thirdly the concept of ecosystem based management should be adopted in the demarcation between land and sea and the management of an estuary as the objective is to maintain a healthy ecosystem. No matter what agency, the policy of exercising management strictly in accordance with the law and for the sustainable development and the conservation of the health and integrity of the estuarine ecosystem should be adopted in the management of an estuary on the basis of ecosystem management.