Xinhua News Agency | Clear Water Attracts Fish - An Ecological Defense Battle in a River

Guiyang, August 15th (Xinhua) -- On a dam in Nanming River, Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, a white egret quietly stretches its neck and stares at the water surface, waiting for fish to appear. “Now the river is clear to the bottom and there are many fish, making it easy for us to fish and for birds to forage. In the past, the river was black and smelly, so there weren't so many fish, "said Mr. Wang, a citizen fishing nearby.

On August 13th, a white egret stopped to forage on a dam in Nanming River. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Xin

Nanming River is the mother river of Guiyang City. Since the 1990s, with the rapid advancement of industrialization and urbanization, the Nanming River Basin has been severely polluted, and the water quality in the central urban area has long been classified as poor Class V. “Not to mention playing and fishing, ordinary people don't even want to get close to the river, "said Jiang Shuai, director of the Guiyang River and Lake Protection Center.

Since 2012, Guiyang City has carried out comprehensive management of the Nanming River Basin, comprehensively and systematically promoting river management, ecological restoration, sewage treatment, recycling, non-point source treatment and other work, and building, upgrading and renovating 34 sewage treatment plants.

In the high-efficiency sedimentation workshop of Qingshan Reclaimed Water Plant in Guiyang City, the wastewater from Nanming River is undergoing the final stage of deep treatment. “These waters undergo suspended solids interception and biochemical treatment to remove COD, ammonia nitrogen, etc. Some of them are used for river supplementary water, while others are used for urban greening and cleaning. The treated wastewater can meet the Class IV standard for surface water, "said Hao Wenlei, the director of Qingshan Reclaimed Water Plant.

Comparison of samples before and after sewage treatment in Qingshan Reclaimed Water Plant. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Xin

“The water plant is buried deep underground, while the ground is a scenic park. This is one of the earliest distributed undergroundwater plants adopted nationwide, "said Hao Wenlei." The ground is a park, sewage is collected on site, and recycled water is reused nearby, greatly reducing costs.”

It is reported that the water quality in the Nanming River Basin has stabilized and reached the Class IV standard for surface water. All 25 black and odorous water bodies in the basin have been eliminated, and the water quality of the 7 main tributaries has reached the standard.

In 2021, Guiyang City officially launched a three-year city wide biodiversity survey, in which fish such as the spotted golden barbel, spring water fish, and wide headed Lin's barbel were found in water wells, cave mouths, and Longtan mouths near the Nanming River. “These fish have very high requirements for water quality. Although they are not directly found in the Nanming River, it indirectly reflects that the water here has not been polluted again in order to attract these fish, "said Zhang Renyi, a professor at the School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University.