The Yangtze River, the largest river in China, accounts for nearly one-fifth of the country's total area, but it has nurtured one-third of the country's population, produced one-third of the country's grain and created one-third of the country's GDP. The "health" of the Yangtze River is related to the overall social and economic development of the country. The Yangtze River water should enter the ecological track of sustainable utilization. Both officials and experts and scholars frequently mention such keywords in the forum: cross-border governance; Unified pace; Step by step implementation.
From region to river basin: the word "cross" takes the lead
The Yangtze River Basin involves 19 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the upstream and downstream ecological environment impacts are very complicated. According to relevant persons from the Ministry of Water Resources, with the rapid economic and social development in the Yangtze River basin, the water consumption in the basin has increased rapidly, and in 2007 it increased by about 16% compared with 1998. This will inevitably reduce the amount of water entering the sea in the Yangtze River estuary to a certain extent, and affect the salt water intrusion in the Yangtze River estuary. The annual increase in the total amount of wastewater discharged in the basin will lead to the further deterioration of the water quality in the Yangtze River estuary and its adjacent waters. The decrease of sediment in the Yangtze estuary will lead to the erosion of the estuary and coast, which will adversely affect the development of tidal flat resources and the maintenance of wetland balance in the Yangtze estuary.
At the Yangtze River Forum, the relevant person in charge of the State Forestry Administration made an impressive speech: the comprehensive ecological management system of the Yangtze River basin should take the "complete ecosystem" as the management object, which should cross both departments and administrative regions. People in the environmental protection department also said that water pollution prevention and control should establish a river basin responsibility system, form multiple mechanisms such as water quality assessment of cross-border sections of the river basin, assessment of total pollutant emission reduction and assessment of the implementation of special plans for water pollution prevention and control, and strictly implement the prevention and control responsibilities of local governments. Break the "wall" of administrative areas and form "overall water conservancy" of river basins.
According to the reporter's understanding, the ecological compensation mechanism for transboundary water bodies in the Yangtze River Delta region is being comprehensively promoted. According to the overall framework initially established, under normal circumstances, on the basis of determining the water quality control target of the cross-border section, when the exit water quality of the upstream area is better than the control target, the downstream area has the responsibility of interest compensation; When the export water quality of the upstream area is inferior to the control target, the upstream area is liable for pollution compensation.
Unified scheduling, unified management and unified coordination.
At the Yangtze River Forum, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Water Resources made it clear that the Yangtze River should use the basin as a platform to implement unified management and unified dispatching of water resources.
According to reports, although the Yangtze River basin is rich in water resources, with the rapid development of economy and society, the demand for water resources in the basin is increasing day by day. In addition, with the implementation of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project and the Yangtze River Water Diversion Project, the contradiction between water departments and regions began to appear, especially in particularly dry years. Relevant persons said that on the basis of in-depth investigation, the initial water rights distribution system should be formulated in accordance with the principles of upstream and downstream coordination, balance between left and right banks, balance between overall and local interests, and balance between short-term and long-term, so as to promote unified water dispatching in the basin and safeguard flood control, water supply and ecological environment safety in the basin.
Shen Jun, vice mayor of Shanghai, also suggested further strengthening the overall coordination function of river basin institutions and managing and dispatching water resources in a unified way. According to the comprehensive planning of the Yangtze River basin, all localities along the Yangtze River should make overall plans to promote basin management, give full consideration to the water resources and water environment carrying capacity of the Yangtze River, and optimize the industrial layout; Relevant departments should establish information sharing and communication platforms, strengthen all-round monitoring of the Yangtze River estuary, and form a joint force; Improve the coordination mechanism for notification and handling of major water pollution incidents in the basin, and establish a balanced relationship between rational development and utilization of resources and corresponding responsibilities and obligations.
Yangtze River Water Conservancy: Three Strategic Steps
Cai Qihua, director of the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, announced at the Third Yangtze River Forum that according to the actual situation of the basin, the Yangtze River water resources development will comprehensively promote three strategic steps at three time nodes in 2020, 2030 and 2050:
Step 1: By 2020, the Yangtze River Basin will be in the stage of strengthening management and development, promoting water ecology and environmental protection, and basically build a comprehensive system for flood control and disaster reduction with harmony between people and water, with the development and utilization rate of hydropower resources reaching about 50% and the development and utilization rate of water resources not exceeding 25%; Completely solved the problem of rural drinking water safety and ensured the safety of urban water supply. 90% of the water functional areas of the main stream and 80% of the main tributaries meet the standards, and 80% of the soil erosion area is effectively controlled.
Step 2: In 2020-2030, the Yangtze River Basin will fully enter the stage of paying equal attention to management, development and protection, and paying more attention to protection. The development and utilization rate of water resources reaches about 60%, and the development and utilization rate of water resources does not exceed 30%. The water-saving society has been basically completed, all water functional areas have reached the planned functional objectives, and 90% of the soil erosion area has been effectively controlled.
Step 3: From 2030 to 2050, the Yangtze River basin will enter the stage of strengthening comprehensive management of the basin, and a comprehensive flood control and disaster reduction system will be built in an all-round way to realize the transformation from flood control to flood management. Further improve the development and utilization rate of hydropower resources and water resources within the scope of the bottom line of development and utilization and the red line of ecological environment protection. Soil erosion has been effectively controlled and the ecosystem has been fully restored.
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