Coordinated action

During his tenure as Caoqiao River chief, Wang found the pollution was mostly caused by dumping: agricultural and other industrial discharges as well as sewage dumped by residents. Since the problem involved different departments and regions, the chief needed to coordinate their efforts to ensure close cooperation.

He persisted and brought the different parties together to plan on how best to control the pollution, and was successful in implementing the measures agreed upon. Today, the average quality of the river water meets the national Class 4 standard.

The national surface water standards formulated in the wake of the Environmental Protection Law and Law of Water Pollution Prevention and Control have five categories. Class 4 represents water for industrial use and entertainment which does not come in direct contact with human bodies.

The useful administrative measure was initiated as early as 2007 when a blue algae outbreak occurred in Taihu Lake. Wuxi, where the lake lies, issued a document on combating river and lake pollution and started appointing river chiefs.

In 2008, the practice was expanded to all the cities and counties around the lake, and 15 provincial-level officials were appointed as river chiefs to look after the 15 rivers flowing into the lake. Presently, the river chief system has been adopted across Jiangsu, covering over 700 major rivers.

Now the Central Government has decided to implement the system countrywide. In December 2016, the general offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued a document, stating that local government leaders would be responsible for managing and protecting designated waterways.

One of the heads of a provincial-level region, either the Party chief or governor, will be appointed as general chief responsible for all rivers and lakes in the region, while other top officials at provincial, city, county and township levels will be river chiefs responsible for different areas.

For large rivers and lakes spanning across regions, river chiefs will be responsible for different parts of the water bodies and cooperate in management. Their names and responsibilities will be made public to ensure public supervision.

The practice is expected to be implemented nationwide by the end of 2018, the document says.

Zhang Bo, Director of the Department of Water Environment Management at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, thinks the appointments will help find a balance between economic development and environmental protection.

“The biggest challenge we meet in water pollution prevention and control is the unbalanced industrial structure in some regions. Many local governments are facing a choice of developing the economy or