National Ecological Day | People''s Daily Front Page Praise for Yunnan''s Erhai Lake Ecological Improvement

August 15th is the first National Ecological Day, and the front page of People's Daily published an article titled "The concept of" green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as gold and silver "deeply rooted in people's hearts. The sense of ecological environment gain, happiness, and security of the people continues to improve - the rivers and mountains are even more colorful." The article reported on the ecological protection achievements of the Erhai Lake in Dali, taking it as a benchmark for lake water management in the country, affirming the improvement of the Erhai Lake ecology and water quality, thanks to engineering measures such as the lake pollution interception. This project relies on the group's distributed sunken recycled water ecosystem, and constructs six sunken recycled water plants around the Erhai Lake, like a beautiful pearl necklace, blocking sewage from entering the water plant, achieving full collection and nearby treatment of domestic sewage, 100% reuse of recycled water, clear flowing water passing through the village again, and people living and working in peace and contentment. It is a successful practice to promote green and sustainable development.

Yunnan. The Cangshan Mountains are painted without ink for a thousand years, and the Erhai Lake has ten thousand ancient qin strings.

The sunlight passed through the clouds and scattered on the lake surface, while the seaweed and flowers bloomed like stars. The flowers on the lake, the grass in the water, and the fish and shrimp playing in the grass have attracted many waterfowl and tourists to take photos.

Nowadays, the transparency of the lake in Erhai exceeds two meters, and the water quality has been evaluated as "excellent" for many years, creating conditions for the restoration of aquatic vegetation such as seaweed. The area of the "underwater forest" in Erhai Lake has increased by nearly two square kilometers compared to last year, including black algae, foxtail algae, and bamboo eye vegetable.

Strolling along the banks of Erhai Lake, Zhao Guolong, the director of the Erhai River Basin Management Bureau of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, expressed his "sweet troubles": "The ecology of Erhai Lake is steadily improving, and the number of fish is increasing. How to scientifically carry out fish population regulation and repair the healthy 'grass algae fish mud' ecosystem has become a new topic."

The improvement of water quality in the lake is due to a decrease in the load of water entering the lake from the shore. Thanks to engineering measures such as lake interception, urban and rural domestic sewage in the Erhai River Basin has been systematically treated. In order to reduce agricultural non-point source pollution, Gusheng Village on the edge of Erhai Lake bid farewell to abundant water and fertilizer. Villager He Licheng managed a 500 acre rice field, and the tail water was temporarily stored in a self built reservoir. Scattered ditch tail water would then enter the village's reservoir. After being absorbed by Jiaocao and Acorus, the nitrogen and phosphorus concentration dropped to the limit before passing through the village again; After taking another big turn by the Erhai Lake, a clear stream of water flowed into the lake after settling in the wetland and filtering through the pebbles. Nowadays, 48000 acres of artificial wetlands are protecting Erhai Lake like this.

Jingmei guests come from afar. From Dali Railway Station to Gusheng Village, Wanqiao Town, Dali City, vehicles stop and go all the way; Under the banyan tree, by the theater platform, in the center of Gusheng Village, there are many tourists in the summer, and it is difficult to find a room in a guesthouse or homestay... In the past few years, Dali's heroic deeds were broken, and ecological relocation of villages along the lake was implemented. The people along the lake bid farewell to traditional production and lifestyle, and turned to participating in tourism and serving tourists. The increasingly beautiful Erhai Lake has led everyone onto a new path of becoming rich through ecotourism.

Gusheng Village(source: Visual China)

"Only with good ecology can there be ecological tourism." He Licheng, who experienced the transformation, sighed, "Protecting Erhai Lake well will make life better!"