Water quality cited as a priority
Print Edition
Water quality is a core target in the third round of a three-year environmental action plan for Minhang District.
“Water is the quietist need of daily life,” said Ji Yuping, the director of the Minhang water affairs bureau. “From rain water to tap water, it nurtures everything. Every source of water is the responsibility of our bureau.”
There were once an estimated 3,000 waterways in the district, but urban encroachment and property development whittled that number down to 1,413 by 2017.
“Located downstream on the Huangpu River, the water quality in Minhang isn’t the best,” Ji said. “Sediment and a reduction in volume have reduced the river’s flow, making it poor for use in households.”
Kang Jianquan, an investigator in the bureau, has been charged with the improving the water quality in Youjian Village in Pujiang Town, where a waterway emitted foul odors.
Villagers at first protested against the rehabilitation plan, hoping instead for the demolition of the village and compensation payments.
Kang showed villagers how a cleanup of local waterways benefited communities and their environment.
Some 181 dirty rivers in the district were cleaned up last year, with government officials concluding that water system management had to go hand-in-hand with rebuilding ecological systems in villages like Fengshou in Pujin Town, Heping in Wujing Town and Xujing in Meilong Town. Successes there provided the blueprint for further cleanups.
The major factors of water pollution are unapproved factory waste disposal, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and blockages of river flow lanes.
“To be frank, the water quality in the district isn’t ideal,” Ji said. “We have reduced pollution in rivers after years of effort, but it’s a long process that will take more time.”
She added: “The standard of cleanup is whether people can swim in a waterway. But we want to aim higher and require that rivers support aquatic life that is edible.”
Part of the pollution prevention program has been to assign bureau directors to sections of a waterway that become their personal responsibility.
This year, Shanghai designated Minhang as a pilot district to bring tap water up to safe drinking levels.
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