BRTV:

In recent years, the environment of our rivers and lakes has been improving. As a result, people have more places to enjoy water-related activities. What has the MWR done to improve the environment of rivers and lakes? What areas will the ministry focus on in its next steps? Thank you.

Chen Min:

These questions will be answered by Mr. Yu from the Department of Water Resources Management of the MWR.

Yu Qiyang:

Thank you for your question. The ecological environment of rivers and lakes is of great concern to everyone, as it's closely related to economic and social development and directly impacts people's quality of life. The MWR places great importance on protecting the ecological environment of rivers and lakes. We adhere to the concept of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, continuously deepening our approach to river ethics. We consistently view rivers as living entities and focus on adjusting values, moral standards, responsibilities and behavioral norms concerning the relationship between humans and rivers. We have vigorously promoted the ecological restoration of rivers and lakes, resulting in significant improvements in the condition of our country's rivers and lakes.

We have made further efforts to revitalize our mother rivers. As everyone knows, the Yangtze River and Yellow River are our nation’s mother rivers, and each region has its own mother river. However, economic and social development, global climate change, and natural endowment constraints have led to rivers running dry and lakes shrinking and drying up in many regions. To address these challenges, we have implemented a series of measures to restore and protect the ecological environment of our rivers and lakes. First of all, we initiated a nationwide restoration project focusing on 88 mother rivers and lakes (79 rivers and 9 lakes) across various regions. For each river and lake, we implemented protection and restoration measures through "one river, one policy" and "one lake, one policy" approaches. These measures include ecological water replenishment, optimizing water resource scheduling and comprehensive management. For example, since 2018, we have continuously carried out ecological water replenishment actions in north China. Since 2022, we have continuously implemented water replenishment actions for the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. These actions have increased the length of rivers with water and the area of rivers and lakes with water, achieving positive results. Of the 88 mother rivers and lakes, 56 rivers have achieved full-length flow at least once, while restoration efforts on other rivers continue to show progress. All nine lakes have either reached their ecological water level targets or met their water replenishment goals. As Mr. Chen mentioned earlier, Beijing's mother river, the Yongding River, which had been cut off for 26 years, has now flowed its full length for four consecutive years. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which had been cut off for 100 years, has achieved full-length flow for three consecutive years, achieving positive results.

The second measure is to effectively ensure ecological water flow in rivers and lakes. Ecological flow is an important indicator of the degree of ecological water protection for rivers and lakes. To this end, we have comprehensively strengthened the management of ecological flow. Since 2020, we've established ecological flow targets for 171 major interprovincial rivers and 546 provincial rivers and lakes, implementing regulatory measures to ensure these goals are met. Currently, a comprehensive ecological flow guarantee system for important interprovincial rivers has been established nationwide, significantly improving the degree of ecological water protection for rivers and lakes. Monitoring indicates that over 90% of rivers consistently meet their ecological flow targets, effectively safeguarding the water ecosystems of rivers and lakes. Among other important rivers and lakes, the Yellow River has flowed uninterrupted for 24 years, while the East Juyan Lake at the Heihe River's end has maintained water for 19 consecutive years. This is quite remarkable.

The third measure focuses on intensifying efforts to treat groundwater overextraction. In recent years, we have continuously strengthened the dynamic monitoring and management of groundwater. For key areas and issues, the MWR, together with relevant ministries, has continuously carried out rectification actions. For example, in water receiving areas of the first phase of the eastern and middle routes of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, diverted water was used to reduce ground water extraction. In north China, two groundwater overextraction treatment actions have been implemented, targeting 10 key areas, including the Sanjiang Plain and the Huang-Huai Plain. The main measures include water saving and controlling to reduce groundwater use, replacing groundwater extraction with surface water, and optimizing water resource allocation and scheduling. The results have been significant. For example, north China, especially in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, saw significant groundwater recovery in 2023. Compared to 2020 levels, shallow groundwater rose by an average of 2.71 meters, while deep confined groundwater increased by 6.42 meters.

Moving forward, the MWR will continue to intensify the protection and restoration of rivers and lakes. We will firmly promote the revival actions of mother rivers, strengthen comprehensive treatment of groundwater overextraction, enhance the optimization and unified scheduling of water resources, continuously implement ecological water replenishment for rivers and lakes, improve the guaranteed degree of ecological flow, and promote the continuous improvement of the ecological environment of rivers and lakes.

Thank you.