July15,2018:ClearwateroftheXiangjiangRiverrunssmoothlythroughQuanzhouCountyintheGuangxiZhuangAutonomousRegion.QuanzhouCountyhasactualizedtheideathat鈥渓ucidwatersandlushmountainsareinvaluableassets鈥漛ycomprehensivelypromotingtheriverchiefscheme.Throughgreatefforts,theecologicalenvironmentandwaterqualityofriversinthecountyhavecontinuouslyimprovedandeventuallyreachedeverywatermanagementgoal.ICInNovember2016,theCentralCommitteeoftheCommunistPartyofChina(CPC)andtheStateCouncilreleasedadocumentaimingtorollouttheriverchiefmechanismnationwidebytheendof2018.Thedocumentstressedthatthemanagementandprotectionofriversandlakesisacomplexsystematicendeavorinvolvingtheupperandlowerreachesanddifferentadministrativeregionsandindustries.
Inrecentyears,certainareashaveactivelyexploredthepilotscheme.LeadersfromthePartyandgovernmentatalllevelswereappointedtoserveasriverchiefsandshoulderthemajorresponsibilityforrivermanagementaccordingtothelawandrules.Bycoordinatingandintegratingthestrengthsofallparties,theyhaveeffectivelypromotedwaterresourceprotection,coastlinemanagement,pollutionpreventionandcontrolandecologicalrestoration.
Theearlyresultsfrompilotareaswereencouraging,sotheriverchiefschemestartedtobeimplementedacrossthecountry,becominganimportanttooltoimprovetheecologicalenvironmentandbuildabeautifulChina.
Elevenyearsago,toimprovetheworseningwaterqualityofTaihuLakeinWuxiCityineasternChina鈥檚JiangsuProvince,thelocalgovernmentofWuxitooktheleadinimplementingariverchiefsystem.HeadsoflocalPartyandgovernmentdepartmentsatvariouslevelswereappointed鈥渃hiefs鈥漮f64riverstostrengthenpollutantsourcecontrolandsupervisemanagementworkonwaterquality.
Soonafterthemeasurewastaken,outstandingeffectsemerged.TheratioofWuxi鈥檚waterfunctionalzonesthatmetrelevantwaterqualitystandardsincreasedfrom7.1percentin2007to44.4percentin2015,andthewaterqualityofTaihuLakealsoimprovedsignificantly.
From鈥渇irst-aidtreatment鈥漟orthewaterpollutioncrisisseparatelyperformedbysomelocalgovernmentstoaunifiednationalapproach,theriverchiefsystemhasprovedaneffectivemeasuretosolvecomplicatedwaterproblems.
Sincetheschemewasrolledoutacrossthecountry,relateddepartmentsoflocalgovernmentshavepromoteditactively.AsofJune2018,supportingsystemspavingthewayfortheschemehavebeenlaunchedinmorethan30municipalities,provincesandautonomousregions.Riverchiefofficesweresetupbylocalgovernmentsatcountylevelandabove.Specialinstitutionssuchastheriversandlakesmanagementdepartmentsandworkstationshavebeenestablishedin26provincial-leveladministrativeunitstoperformmoredetailedwork.
April8,2018:WorkerscleangarbageontheriverinHai鈥檃nCounty,JiangsuProvince.LocatedatthejunctionbetweentheYangtzeandHuaiherivers,Hai鈥檃nCountyfeaturescrisscrossingwatercourses.Tomaintainanidealnaturallandscape,thecountyhascomprehensivelypromotedtheriverchiefsystem.Over500riverchiefsinthecountyhavevigorouslyimplementedthe鈥淐learWater鈥漰rojecttorestoretheeco-friendlyandharmoniousnaturalenvironmentalongtheriversandledlocalfarmersindevelopingfishbreedingandpoultryfarmstoincreasetheirincomes.IC
July22,2018:TheShiliRiverinRongchengCity,ShandongProvince.Rongchenghasenactedacomprehensiveriverchiefschemetopromoteecologicalprotection.ICChinahasappointedmorethan300,000riverchiefsacrossfourlevelsofprovinces,cities,countiesandtownships.Furthermore,theschemehasbeenextendedtothevillagelevelin29municipalities,provincesandautonomousregionsanddesignatedmonitoringresponsibilitiesforthe鈥渓astmile鈥漛yappointingmorethan760,000riverchiefs(includingriverpatrollersandstewards)invariousvillages.
April10,2018:VolunteerslaunchapromotionalcampaigninthelocalcommunitiesofSuzhouCity,JiangsuProvincetoimproveresidents鈥檈cologicalprotectionawarenessandfacilitatetheimplementationoftheriverchiefsysteminlocalareas.IC
July1,2018:Morethan40fishingvesselsembarkonthefirstfishingoperationaftertheoffseasoninChongqing鈥檚YunyangCounty,oneofwhichbroughtinmorethanatonoffish,withthelargestfishweighing12.1kilograms.ICEveryoneInvolved
Inareasthatpioneeredtheimplementationoftheriverchiefsystem,theeffectsareoutstanding.Forexample,inZhejiangProvince,wherethesystemwasimplementedattheendof2013,pollutedrivershaveessentiallybeeneliminated.InFujianProvince,12mainriversconsistentlymaintainexcellentwaterqualityafterthreeyearsofembracingthescheme.
Duringtheprocess,variousmeasureshavebeentakenbylocalgovernmentssuchasorganizingthepublictocleanupwatercourses,hiringpoverty-strickenhouseholdstoserveasrivercleanersandpromotinglocalindustrialtransformationandplantingstructureadjustment.
Someregionshavealsopromotedthesystembyestablishingariverchiefinspectionandpatrolmechanism,compilingawaterproblemslist,revisingtheriverchiefperformanceevaluationandaccountabilitysystemandcreatingrewardsandhonorsforexcellentworkinggroupsandindividuals.
In2017,Beijingfocusedonintegratingtheriverchiefschemewiththeprojecttophaseoutnon-capitalfunctionsandminimizelow-endindustries.Bystrengtheningtreatmentofpollutedwatersandtighteningwaterresourcesmanagement,thecitydeploysmeasurestosolveecologicalproblems.Inevaluationofvariouslocalwatermanagementsystemsandtheirstrictness,Beijinghasconsistentlyrankedamongthetopfiveexcellentmunicipalitiesandprovinces.Thewaterqualityofriversandlakesinthecityhassignificantlyimproved,andtheriverchiefschemehasachievednotablesuccess.
InGuangdongProvince,13citieswerepickedupfromthePearlRiverDeltaregion,theeasternandwesternpartsoftheprovinceandthenorthernmountainousareastocarryoutthe鈥渙necounty,onetown,onevillage鈥漰rovincialdemonstrationprojects,formingplentyofreplicableandpromotablegrassrootsexperience.
LongWaytoGo
However,manyproblemsstillpersist.
First,someofficialshaveunrealisticexpectationsoftheirwork.Someriverchiefsdon鈥檛followthelong-termscheduleandinsteadattempttousedrasticmeasurestoinstantlysolveproblemsthathaveaccumulatedoverdecades.
Second,progressmadeinvariousplacesisquiteunbalanced.Theregionsthatimplementedtheschemeearlyhaveseentremendousimprovementsintheconditionsoflocalriversandlakes.Inotherplaces,theriverchiefshavejustassumedoffice.Someworkplanshavenotyetbeensmoothedoutorneedimprovement.Also,staffingandinvestmentinrivermanagementarealsounbalanced.
Third,notalloftheproblemsarefixedquickly.Inmanyplaces,thechiefshavestartedtopatroltheriversandpinpointwaterproblems.Thepublicalsoreportedplentyofproblems.Manyriverchiefshavemanagedtosolvetheproblemsswiftlyandachievedquickresults,butothershaveignoredproblemsorfailedtofixthemeffectively.
Indecadespast,therewasn鈥檛anyunifiednationalwatermanagementsystem.Theimplementationoftheriverchiefschemehasmaderesponsibilitiesmuchclearer,helpingtheecosystembegraduallyrestoredandtheenvironmentsteadilyimprove.However,rivermanagementisalong-termtask,sotheestablishmentoftheriverchiefsystemisjustastart.
Ingeneral,watermanagementisasystemicprojectinvolvingawiderangeoffactorsthatinfluencetheoverallsituation.So,riverchiefsandrelateddepartmentscannotshoulderalltheresponsibilitiesaloneandneedhelpfromsociety,especiallythepublicatlarge.Bymobilizingvolunteerriverchiefsfromthepublic,enterprisesandsocialorganizationstoparticipateinwatermanagementcanprogressbeadvancedgradually.
Wealsoneedtodomoretopromotesuccessfulexperiencethroughvariousforcessuchasthegovernment,enterprises,thepublic,themediaandcivilorganizationstocreateapositiveatmosphereforwatermanagementacrossallofsociety.
Therefore,inthefuture,wemustnotonlymakegreateffortstosolvethemajorproblemsthathaveemerged,butalsopreparefora鈥減rotractedwar鈥漚gainstwaterproblemsbydesigninglong-termpracticalmeasures.
LiGuibaoisaprofessorateseniorengineeranddeputysecretary-generaloftheHydraulicSpecialistCertificationSecretariatundertheChineseHydraulicEngineeringSociety.ZhangWeibingisaprofessorateseniorengineerattheChinaInstituteofWaterResourcesandHydropowerResearch.Thecontentsofthisarticlearebasedonaresearchproject(ProjectNumber:JZ0145C162017)sponsoredbytheChinaInstituteofWaterResourcesandHydropowerResearch.