East China’s Jiangsu province has promoted the construction of ecological rivers and lakes, focused on speeding up project construction and resisted floods and droughts by giving full play to its river and lake chief system.
The extension and dredging project of the 100-kilometer Xinmeng River is one of the major water-saving water supply projects approved by the State Council. It is also the largest single water conservancy project in Jiangsu since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
With the completion of the project construction, water transfer from the Taihu Lake basin has become a reality, realizing the smooth drainage of the Taihu Lake and the Yangtze River. At the same time, the water exchange cycle of the Taihu Lake will be shortened from 309 days to 180 days.
The Jiepai Water Conservancy Project has further improved the safety of the Taihu Lake water environment, and played an important role in resisting Typhoon Infa in the summer.
"After operating for 10 days on July 24, we had drained 52.8 million cubic meters of waterlogged water, effectively reducing the pressure on flood control along the Xinmeng River and the west of Taihu Lake," said Wu Zhong, Director of Xinmeng River Junction Bureau for Comprehensive Treatment of Taihu Lake Water Environment.
With the further improvement of the infrastructure represented by the Jiepai Water Conservancy Project, the Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River and the Hongze Lake and downstream areas have built a system to prevent large-scale floods once in a hundred years.
The Dongyan River in Lianyungang city has become a good place for citizens to relax and entertain. However, just a few years ago, the river was a black and smelly river with weeds and trash everywhere.
"We have distinguished all the sewage outlets along the banks of the jurisdiction to achieve the effect of rain and sewage diversion, ensuring that no trace of sewage is discharged into the river," said Jiang De’en, Chief River Chief of Huaguoshan Street, Haizhou District, Lianyungang City.
Jiangsu is the birthplace of the river chief system. The 57 thousand river chiefs at all levels of the five-level river chief system assume responsibility for water management so that the appearance of rivers and lakes has changed significantly, and the ecosystem is gradually restored.
Jiangsu has taken the lead in building a number of river and lake ecological management models in the country. 84% of the key rivers and lakes have measured up to relevant ecological standards, and the water quality of the Yangtze River has remained stable at Class II.
"We have continued to invest heavily in water conservancy construction, achieved overall improvement in service capabilities and promoted transitional changes in the ecology of rivers and lakes. In the next step we will follow the decisions of the provincial party committee and the provincial government so as to take the lead in the modernization of water conservancy and give a strong impetus to the construction of a new Jiangsu, and explore the road for the country’s water conservancy undertakings," said Chen Jie, Director of the Department of Water Resources of Jiangsu Province.
