New Program to Clean Major Freshwater Lake in East China

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 27, 2002

New Program to Clean Major Freshwater Lake in East China

Chinese scientists have mapped out a plan to further control water pollution and protection of water resources. Under the new plan, the Taihu Lake basin has been divided into functional regions, which will receive urgent or long-term management and protection.

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Plan mapped out for water protection

Chinese scientists have mapped out a plan to further control water pollution and protection of water resources for Taihu Lake, China's third largest freshwater lake.

On March 25 and 26, the Ministry of Water Resources hosted a meeting of more than 20 water conservancy experts to appraise the plan. After thorough discussion, the plan was approved Tuesday.

So far, China has mapped out water resource protection plans for all its seven major water basins in China: the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huaihe River, the Zhujiang River, the Songhuajiang-Liaohe rivers, the Haihe River and Taihu Lake, one ofthe most populous and prosperous regions in the eastern part of the country.

Experts and officials attending the appraisal meeting believe that the plans will be efficient and cost-effective.

Achievements to be made

Under the new plan, the Taihu Lake basin has been divided into functional regions, which will receive urgent or long-term management and protection.

The plan also outlines targets for function ability, pollution, water quality and monitoring systems for the lake and its neighboring rivers over the next 18 years.

By the year 2020, water quality in the basin will reach the target of fairly good. Meanwhile, the ecological environment in the area will be improved to a stage of sustainability.

The blue algae problem will also be solved during the period.

Ye Shouren, deputy director of the Taihu Lake Water Resources Protection

Efforts to be focused on ecological environment

Bureau under the Minster of Water Resources, said efforts will be focused on protecting water resources and the ecological environment.

According to the official, priority will also be given to pollution control, water-saving, environment-friendly industry, freshwater-inflow and comprehensive management in the lake area.

During the country's tenth Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005), 40.96 billion yuan (about 4.93 billion U.S. dollars) would be invested in water resources protection, campaigns against water pollution, diverting water from the Yangtze River for improving water quality, construction of power facilities, and research on water resources protection, Ye noted.

Moreover, dozens of major projects would be constructed to treat wastewater and garbage, to restore the ecological environment around the lake, to remove silt, and to reduce pollution from farming and ships, the official said.

The 2,300-square-kilometer Taihu Lake, mostly located in Jiangsu, is the source of drinking water for 40 million local residents around and people in neighboring Shanghai and Zhejiang.

Local people and enterprises that have benefited from the region's rapid industrialization and urbanization in the past two decades now have to pay for the treatment of wastewater and garbage.

People suffered from discharged chemical waster

Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and Shanghai Municipality have begun to charge special taxes to fund the operation of waste-disposal facilities, and the fee would rise gradually, he said. However, the lake, previously dubbed "a pearl of the Yangtze River delta," has been heavily polluted by industrial waste, untreated sewage, pesticides and fertilizers since the 1980s.

Nitrogen and phosphorus discharged into the lake have caused an overgrowth of algae, further deteriorating the water quality.

The official said the amount of discharged chemical wastes had been greatly reduced since pollution control programs were begun in 1998.

But nitrogen and phosphorus pollution due to the abuse of fertilizers and pesticides, as well as untreated waste from the poultry and livestock industries, had yet to be alleviated, he said.

To make the situation worse, about 10 percent of factories, mainly small chemical plants and paper mills, were found to be ignoring the ban on discharging dirty water into the lake, he added.

The State Council, China's cabinet, has approved a five-year program for water pollution control in the Taihu Lake, which requires the total amount of major pollutants discharged into the lake to be reduced by 10 to 25 percent from the levels of the year2000.

Major measures include the construction of 103 waste disposal plants that can treat 8.14 million tons of waste water daily, 13 disposal centers for urban garbage and dangerous waste, and 87 facilities to control industrial waste.

Pollution of Taihu Lake

The 2,300-square-kilometer Taihu Lake, vastly located in Jiangsu, is the source of drinking water for 40 million residents around and people in neighboring Shanghai and Zhejiang.

However, the lake, previously dubbed as "a pearl of the Yangtze River delta," has been heavily polluted by industrial waste, untreated sewage, pesticide and fertilizer since the 1980s.

Nitrogen and phosphorus discharged into the lake have caused overgrowth of algae, further deteriorating the water quality.

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