Managing Rural Water Environments: Pathways to Improvement

The rural water environment constitutes a vital component of rural ecology, with its proper governance serving as a fundamental prerequisite for building beautiful countryside. In recent years, rural water environment issues have emerged as significant factors undermining rural ecological systems and residents’ livelihoods. Strengthening rural water environment governance has thus become a crucial measure for improving rural environments. This paper employs a systematic review method to analyze recent literature on rural water environment governance, focusing on four dimensions: current status, governance dilemmas, governance models, and improvement pathways, to analyze the progress of rural water environment management research. Finally, prospects for rural water environment governance in China are proposed.