Guangming Daily | A Record of a Clear River Emerging from the River

The Jialing River Basin is a water source conservation area in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and an important barrier for ecological security in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. In thousands meters longJialingRiver,Wusheng is the longest. Wusheng in Guang'an City bears the special mission of protecting the water resources security of the Jialing River. China Water Environment Group Guang'an Company is responsible for the comprehensive management of Guang'an's "Clean Water" action, which includes the Jialing River and its tributaries Qu River, as well as Xiaoping's former residence "Washing Inkstone Pond"; The Nanchong Company of the Group has undertaken the construction of over 200 kilometers of rural water supply pipelines in Shunqing District. The group's governance model for the Jialing River Basin is the first regional, cross basin urban-rural integrated water environment management project in China.

Traveling in Beautiful China

The Jialing River, with a total length of 1119 kilometers, flows through Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, and Chongqing before finally merging into the Yangtze River. Within Sichuan Province, the main stream of the Jialing River is approximately 796 kilometers long, providing an inexhaustible source of power for the development of Northeast Sichuan.

The water of the Jialing River stretches for thousands of miles, with a smokymoon, and is darker than blue. In recent years, thanks to strong local protection, the ecological environment quality of the Jialing River Basin has continued to improve, and the overall water environment quality has remained excellent. The proportion of Class II water quality sections has steadily increased. Recently, the reporter went to Guangyuan, Nanchong, and Guang'an with the "Sichuan River Thousand Mile Journey" interview activity to record the experience and practices of various coastal cities in promoting high-quality development and high-level protection, and feel the ecological charm of the Sichuan section of the Jialing River.

The landscape in the Nanchong urban area of the Jialing River. Photo by Yu Zhonghua/Guangming image

Control sources and intercept pollution to solve the fundamentalproblem of water environment governance

"Dirty water pools, mosquitoes flying, and garbage piles everywhere" was a true portrayal of Sanhui Village in Cangxi County, Guangyuan City. For a long time, due to scattered residential buildings, outdated environmental protection infrastructure, and inadequate treatment of rural domestic sewage, not only has it affected the overall development of Sanhui Village, but it has also led to a series of ecological and environmental problems such as black and odorous water bodies and groundwater pollution in rural areas.

"The straight-line distance from here to the Jialing River is only a few kilometers. If wastewatercannot be intercepted, it will affect the water quality of the Jialing River," said Ji Jin, Chief Engineer of the Cangxi County Ecological Environment Bureau. In front of a dispersed residential building, Ji Jin explained to reporters the working principle and advantages of a single household wastewatertreatment tank: "Domestic wastewateris treated in a three format septic tank or oil separation tank, and then enters a storage tank. After further degradation, the tail water can be used as irrigation water. This type of wastewatertreatment tank has low cost, no energy consumption, and is easy to maintain."

Can such a simple facility really treat domestic wastewaterinto standard irrigation water? In the nearby vegetable garden, green and tall white radishes and Chinese cabbage with pleasing growth gave the answer: yes!

In addition to the single household treatment method, Sanhui Village also treats domestic wastewaterthrough "centralized collection+artificial wetland", and all the qualified tail water is used for irrigation in surrounding farmland, orchards, and industrial parks. This not only reduces the water consumption for agricultural irrigation, but also effectively improves soil fertility, achieving an organic combination of source control, pollution interception, and resource utilization.

"If domestic wastewateris consumed on the shore, it will not have an impact on the water quality of the Jialing River," said Ji Jin. Currently, in Sanhui Village, rural domestic wastewatertreatment has achieved 100% full coverage, and the village's appearance has been significantly improved. Not only that, Sanhui Village also took the opportunity to vigorously develop the "ecologicalplus" industry. In 2022, the per capita net income of the entire village reached more than 26000 yuan, becoming a well-known affluent village in the county.

Theyhave captured the "highland" of direct discharge of rural domestic wastewater, thenCangxi County has launched a "charge" against black and odorous water.

Longdonggou is a primary tributary on the left bank of the Jialing River. The discharge of domestic sewage and agricultural non-point source pollution are the main reasons why it has become black and odorous water, and directly poses a threat to the water quality of the Jialing River.

"Through the construction of wastewatertreatment stations, dredging of sediment, and ecological restoration of riverbanks, the black and odorous water body in Longdonggou has been successfully 'sold out'. Ji Jin introduced that carrying out ecological restoration of riverbanks according to local conditions is not only beneficial for maintaining the ecological environment and organic matter balance of the water body, but also solves the problem of reuse of sediment." Compared to hardening riverbanks, the effect is better and the cost is lower, which can be said to be more than one action. ".

The problem of water pollution appears in the water, but the fundamental cause lies on the shore. Nowadays, 34 WWTPs (stations) and 24500 rural domestic wastewatertreatment facilities have been built in Cangxi County, with a rural domestic wastewatertreatment rate of 75.69%, making a fundamental contribution to the water quality control of the Jialing River.

Citizens and tourists stroll by the Jialing River in the old city of Guangyuan. Photo by Wang Shu/Guangming

Revitalizing the shoreline and building a harmonious ecological defense line between humans and water

In the early morning mist, the Hexi Sand and Stone Stacking Yard located on the right bank of the Jialing River in Hexi Town, Nanchong City, is overgrown with reeds and lush green grass.

"In the past, there were many factories and sheds here, and the shoreline was severely encroached upon." Hou Zhiyuan, the head of the Inspection Department of the Nanchong Ecological Environment Bureau, said that due to the lack of unified planning and management, the order of the Hexi sand and gravel stacking yard was scattered, the environment was dirty, and there was a lot of dust, which seriously affected the production and life of the surrounding people, and also posed a threat to the water environment of the Jialing River.

In 2021, in order to protect the ecological coastline, Nanchong City demolished all buildings and facilities in the Hexi sand and gravel stacking yard, and repaired the coastline by 1500 meters. The renovated Hexi Sand and Stone Field, with clear water and green banks, is beautiful and peaceful, resembling a vibrant landscape painting.

How to solve the problem of demand for engineering sand and gravel materials when the shore is green and the water is clear? After scientific verification, a standardized, environmentally friendly, and fully intelligent sand and gravel production base has been built in Yangkou Village, Lidu Town, which is far from the offshore line. The annual production of sand and gravel finished materials exceeds 7 million tons, which can meet the needs of surrounding engineering construction. "Through the production wastewater treatment system, we have achieved no direct discharge of all production wastewater," said Cao Chang, Executive Director of Nanchong Jialing Asset Management Co., Ltd. The base strictly controls the cross-section, depth, elevation, mining range, and total amount of sand and gravel excavation, achieving large-scale operation, intensive development, and sustainable utilization of sand and gravel resources.

At the Huangjin Jiang'an Wetland Park in Nanchong City, the Jialing River leaves behind a soft and beautiful figure. Standing facing south, one can see lush green mountains, flowing green waters, and a beautiful scenery that blends harmoniously with the city, attracting many citizens and tourists to come here to take photos.

"After ecological transformation, the coastline here is no longer as dirty and messy as before, becoming a popular riverside landscape." Cai Jie, the project leader of the Golden River Bank, recalled that this area used to be a stacking yard for sand and gravel mining and a vegetable garden for the surrounding people. At that time, the land was barren and garbage was dense. Its "rebirth" is a microcosm of Nanchong's active restoration of the ecological coastline of the Jialing River.

In order to maximize the protection of the wetland ecology and natural scenery of the Jialing River, the Golden River Bank project strictly emphasizes water body protection during implementation. On the basis of preserving the original shoreline plant corridor, a series of ecological restoration measures are taken to improve and enrich the biological chain in the site, enhance the biodiversity of the embankment and wetland, and form a healthy and benign ecological cycle system.

"After the restoration of the ecological shoreline, not only the 'face value' has been improved, but also the ability of soil fixation and water conservation has been further enhanced. Now the rainstorm runoff in the region has been reduced by more than 30%, and the pollutants in the rainwater runoff have also been effectively purified." Cai Jie said.

Building a strong ecological barrier for water resource protection

The Jialing River Basin, as an important water source conservation area and a rich area of flora and fauna, especially fish resources, is also an important barrier for ecological security in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

The Zhengjiaba Urban Water Source Protection Zone is located in the ancient city of Langzhong, where there is a water intake for urban drinking water sources, ensuring the drinking water safety of urban and rural residents in Langzhong. "The area near the red waterway sign is the water intake for drinking water sources," said Du Jinming, the director of Shaxi Water Plant in Langzhong City, Nanchong. In order to strengthen the protection of drinking water sources, Langzhong City has implemented a series of standardized construction, including the installation of water quality online monitoring system equipment and protective nets, isolation and closure of land areas downstream of the protected area, and measures such as delineation of water source protection areas, establishment of boundary markers, and remediation of environmental problems, The risk prevention and control capabilities of drinking water source areas have significantly increased.

"At present, there are 28 key water functional areas in the city, and the proportion of excellent water quality reaches 100%." Liu Yuan, the head of the Water Department of the Nanchong Ecological Environment Bureau, introduced that there are a total of 118 centralized drinking water sources along the Jialing River in Nanchong City, with a daily water supply of about 900000 tons, serving a total population of nearly 4.3 million people. The local people affectionately call the Jialing River "Mother River".

In thousands kilometers longJialingRiver, Wusheng is the longest. Wusheng County in Guang'an City is the last stop of the Jialing River flowing out of the river, and it has a national level aquatic germplasm resource protection area for the Chinese barbel carp. Therefore, while enjoying abundant water resources, Wusheng also bears the special mission of protecting the water resources security of the Jialing River.

"The intelligent fishery policy video monitoring system is equipped with high-definition cameras and thermal imaging devices, which can monitor the Wusheng section of the Jialing River 24/7 without blind spots." Chen Jiandong, director of the Wusheng County Aquatic Development Service Center, introduced that the monitoring system can automatically identify illegal activities, report in real-time and retain enforcement evidence, timely drive away illegal personnel, greatly improve the ability to respond quickly to law enforcement, and significantly improve the efficiency of fishing bans and withdrawals.

The implementation of the ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River cannot simply be a one-time ban. In addition to scientifically carrying out proliferation and release, promoting the restoration of aquatic ecological environment and sustainable development of aquatic biological resources, Wusheng County also organically combines the governance of water environment with the assistance of increasing people's income, strengthens the resettlement of fishermen who have switched industries, guides fishermen to provide technical training and employment security, and helps "ashore" fishermen embark on the path of transformation and development.

At noon, the heavy fog had just dissipated, and on the riverside walkway, several young children were playing, looking at the clear and bottomless Jialing River from time to time, hoping to count the number of swimming fish in the water grass. In their impressions and memories, the clear water of the river had just emerged from the river.

Guangming Daily (January 27, 2024, 9th edition)