The website of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment features a section on the national automatic monitoring system for surface water quality. Every four hours, it releases real-time data on the water quality at the nearly 10,000 monitoring points across the country. At 2 p.m. on January 12, for instance, the system showed the proportion of monitoring points registering Grade III quality or above surpassed 85 percent.

In China's five-tier water quality system, Grade III is considered "fairly good," suitable for domestic use. The remaining 15 percent mostly registered Grade IV water quality, which is generally suitable for industrial use. Only four monitoring points showed water quality below Grade V.

The improvement of surface water quality benefits people in both rural and urban areas, creating healthy green spaces that support wildlife and plantlife. In particular, the banks of urban rivers and lakes are becoming popular places for recreation and exercise.

Twenty years ago, news reports on water pollution were not uncommon. The changes since then have been brought about by government efforts to transform the economic growth model with an increasing emphasis on ecological and environmental protection. Especially since 2012, China has put forward concepts such as "we must protect this planet as we protect our own eyes" and "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." Of the new approaches taken to the protection of waterways, the system of river and lake chiefs has proved particularly effective. 

Under the system, local leaders at all levels are assigned individual responsibility for the protection of particular bodies of water or sections of waterway within their communities. Water quality and the health of the river and lake ecosystems under a leader's jurisdiction are included in that leader's overall performance evaluations. The system originated in 2003 in Changxing County, Zhejiang Province, where it proved an effective means of improving water quality. In 2016, the State Council, the highest state administrative organ, began implementing the system nationwide, making this year its 10th anniversary.

Over the past 10 years, benefits of the program have included increases in the proportion of waterways with "excellent" water quality, the rehabilitation of biodiversity within major waterways such as the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, and the transformation of urban rivers and lakes from mere drainage systems into green spaces shared by wildlife and urban residents.

One of the biggest advantages of the system lies in its integration of responsibility, breaking down barriers between administrative divisions. Under the coordination of river and lake chiefs, multiple departments, including those responsible for water resource management, ecology and environment, natural resources, housing and urban-rural development, as well as agriculture, have formed joint systems for water governance. In addition, the widespread application of drones, automatic water quality monitoring stations and other technologies in river and lake management has improved the efficiency of river patrols and the ability to detect and handle problems.

The effectiveness of the system has significance far beyond water and environmental governance. What it protects are rivers and lakes, but what it reshapes are development concepts, governance models and the connection between humans and nature. In the future, as the system is further improved, it will inject stronger green momentum into the construction of a beautiful China and contribute Chinese solutions to global water environment governance.

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson 

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