By Rui Hu, EDITOR

As the center of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, Chongqing is an essential strategic reserve of freshwater resources in China. It is also an important ecological barrier area in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Experts made it clear that Chongqing has entered a critical stage of environmental protection. The city should make targeted efforts to form a trans-sectoral linkage mechanism to solve the problems arising from the ecological and environmental restoration in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. This should be done through comprehensive management, water resources management, and forestry ecosystem development.

Village on the hill 

In 2018, the overall water quality of the trunk stream of the Yangtze River in Chongqing was excellent.

Two years ago, the Linjiang River, which passes through Yongchuan, was a "smelly river" which attracted bitter complaints from residents.

For that reason, Yongchuan District started a comprehensive management project of Linjiang River in 2017. The district plans to invest 2 billion RMB in water treatment to ensure the realization of the goals of "smooth rivers, clear waters, green banks, beautiful scenery, and swimming fish" by 2020. The aim was to improve the water quality of the whole region by improving the river and upgrading the city treatment facilities.

The comprehensive improvement of Linjiang River is only a small part of the ecological restoration of the Yangtze River in Chongqing. In Chongqing, the beautiful scenery along the Yangtze River reappears as a result of the "three water projects," namely water pollution control, water ecology restoration, and water resources protection.

The data show that the overall water quality of the Chongqing section of the Yangtze River in 2018 was excellent. The water quality of 15 monitoring sections showed the water was drinkable and sustained healthy aquatic ecosystems. In 2018, 316 days in Chongqing had good air, rising by 13 days from the previous year. As the local ecological quality has improved, environmental safety for the region has also improved.

In 2018, to deal with outstanding environmental problems, Chongqing implemented a physical examination of major tributaries of the Yangtze River and non-compliant rivers. With 1,200 monitoring sections prepared, Chongqing receives detailed information on the water quality of main-streams and tributaries. This information was used to guide districts and counties to improve their compilation of "one river, one policy," and to systematically promote pollution control of the river basin. In 2018 Chongqing measured 268,000 vehicles, eliminating 17,000 old diesel vehicles, and regulated 26,000 vehicles emitting black smoke that exceeded standards. Chongqing then acquired 13,000 new energy vehicles and more than 40 electric passenger ferries. A total of more than 300 air-polluting enterprises have been closed or relocated.

Chongqing has further accelerated the reform of its environmental supervision system. Chongqing has created a "red and blacklist," evaluating 445 enterprises' environmental credit rating in 2017 and blacklisting ten non-compliant enterprises. Thirty-four districts and counties involved in 19 secondary rivers with a watershed area of more than 500 square kilometers have signed agreements on ecological protection compensation. With the introduction of the Implementation Plan for the Reform of the Compensation System for Ecological and Environmental Damages, the reform of the compensation system for ecological and environmental damages is taking effect.

Through hard work, the ecology and environment of the Yangtze River have improved remarkably. The forest coverage rate in Chongqing has reached 48.3%, and the wetland protection rate has increased to 60.2%.

View of Yangtze River

There is a long way to go to protect the Yangtze River

"Currently, the city has an area of 28,000 square kilometers of soil erosion, accounting for 35% of the total area. The annual soil erosion is 90.97 million tons. Slope farmlands of stony desertification still face severe soil erosion," said Xie Fei, from Chongqing Water Resources Bureau. The standards of soil erosion control are not high enough, and the comprehensive functions and benefits of soil and water conservation have not been realized at a high level. They fall short of the requirements of long-term peace and stability in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area and the construction of ecological barriers in the Yangtze River Economic Zone.

"The ecological restoration in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is not only challenged by soil erosion, but also numerous problems. The illegal, direct, and disorderly discharge of sewage poses safety risks to the water quality of the Yangtze River. Environmental risks and safety incidents in the Yangtze River basin are prone to the frequent occurrence, and the illegal development of nature reserves has damaged ecological environment. These problems are still prominent," said Xiang Ting, from Chongqing Ecology And Environment Bureau. Air pollution concerns people's livelihood, and it attracts significant public interest. In 2018, the number of days with heavy pollution in Chongqing decreased by 38 days compared with that in 2013.

Chongqing is Taking  Measures to Protect the Yangtze River

In June 2018, the Action Plan of Chongqing City for Giving High Priority to Eco-environment Protection and Green Development 2018-2020 was issued by Chongqing to outline a "battle map" for launching an environmental protection battle in Chongqing. The goal is to accelerate the ecological protection and restoration of the Yangtze River.

Experts and scholars indicated that the restoration of the ecological environment in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River needs coordination and cooperation among various departments instead of the efforts by a single department.

First of all, to solve the problems in the ecological restoration work in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, it is necessary to conduct in-depth "actions, linkage, interaction, drive, promotion and motivation" in aspects as follows:

First, to achieve the overall protection of the Yangtze River and facilitate its ecological restoration. The Law Enforcement Team for "Overall Protection of the Yangtze River" should be jointly established by Chongqing Ecology And Environment Bureau and relevant departments, to complete high-quality rectification of the direct and illegal discharge of sewage on both sides of the Yangtze River.

Second, to prevent heavy air pollution by using big data. The Intelligent Air Big Data Supervision Platform of Chongqing should be established to eliminate heavy air pollution by using the big data.

Third, bring wealth and a beautiful environment to the rural people through rural revitalization. The win-win guidance for ecological protection and poverty alleviation should be formulated. Priority should be given to poverty alleviation projects of "two no-worries, three guarantees" to achieve the goals of maximizing poverty alleviation effect and minimizing ecological impact.

Fourth, persist in the rule of law and the promotion of standards, and conduct planning and construction as soon as possible to solve the problem of "Not In My Back Yard" (NIMBY). It is necessary to resolve conflicts and disputes in letters and visits, solidify the interest loss or compensation standard for the NIMBY masses, adopt high-standard ecological restoration methods for the existing NIMBY problems, and implement high-tech environmental restoration projects for the unfinished projects.

Fifth, adhere to the economic and standard drive and boost ecological restoration bylaws. It is required to insist on the combination of economic incentives and punishments for actions beyond the standard. The principle of "being in line with laws, regulations, and standards and taking economic measures" should be adopted to promote the elimination of backward production capacity, and strictly prevent the red line of ecological protection from being broken due to implementation of numerous irrational projects.

Sixth, stick to the supervision for environmental protection. A compensation mechanism for ecological, environmental damage should be implemented throughout the city to solve the dilemma of "corporate pollution, mass victimization, and government paying the bill." It should also clarify the responsibilities of enterprises and business entities for pollution control, and form a long-term working mechanism for ecological protection and restoration of the Yangtze River.

The forestry work should focus on "increasing, reducing, doubling and eliminating." This means increasing the green land and forest area and reducing the scope of barren hills and rocky desertification. The forestry work should also promote the doubling of forestry output value through industrial development, and eliminate the risks of forestry disasters and the hidden dangers of forestry ecological instability.

In addition, in terms of water resources management, the fundamental requirements for the important ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River should be studied to safeguard the last pass in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Through the series of measures including the comprehensive exercise of the river chief system, the implementation of the strictest system for water resources management, and the enhancement on water ecological restoration and protection, the environmental barriers to a healthy Yangtze River will be removed and resolved for a global benefit.

Source: CQCB
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