Chongqing- Rivers in southwestern China's Chongqing Municipality have seen significant improvement over the past five years thanks to promoting the "river chief" system, officials from Chongqing Water Resources Bureau said on December 27.

Greening of slopes and cliffs in Daijiaxiang, Yuzhong District, Chongqing. (iChongqing file photo)

At present, Chongqing has achieved full coverage of "one river, one chief" in the management of rivers. 

"One river, one chief"

Chongqing has established a four-level river chief system of cities, districts, counties, townships (subdistricts), and villages (communities). According to the official report, more than 17,500 river chiefs are set up at different levels.

The city's river chiefs carried out more than 2.88 million river inspections through open and unannounced visits, cross-border joints, and intelligent inspections. More than 58,000 river management and protection issues have been coordinated and solved.

The system into law

Chongqing took the lead in promulgating the local laws and regulations of the river chief system Regulations on the River Chief System of Chongqing Municipality, bringing the implementation of the river chief system into the track of law.

Meanwhile, Chongqing took the lead in establishing the River Chief discussing meeting reporting system nationwide and strictly implemented the river chief accountability system.

Collaborative governance

In order to jointly promote the joint prevention and control of inter-provincial and municipal rivers, Chongqing has signed 96 agreements with neighboring provinces at all levels, according to Zhang Xuefeng, Director of Chongqing Water Resources Bureau.

Various departments in Chongqing also continue to promote departmental governance. Departments of environmental protection, housing construction, water conservancy, and transportation have worked closely to jointly carry out more than 30 special actions, such as illegal sand mining and black and smelly water remediation.

On March 3, the white plum blossoms bloomed in Quchi Township, Wushan County, Chongqing. (iChongqing file photo)

In addition, Chongqing promotes the "four-level chiefs"  system. Implement "river chief plus prosecutor" to strengthen legal supervision of river management and protection. Implementing "river chief plus sheriff" cracked down on illegal activities such as indiscriminate mining and illegal fishing. With the implementation of "river chief" more than 23,000 "He Xiaoqing" "women river guards" took up their posts. 

Volunteers pick up rubbish along the Jialing River. (iChongqing file photo)

Long-term cleanliness

In 2020, the city's centralized drinking water source reached 100% of the water quality standards. The city's water consumption for 10,000 yuan (about 1570 U.S. dollars) of GDP and 10,000 yuan of industrial added value dropped by 37% and 61%, respectively.

Compared with 2016, chemical fertilizers and pesticides have decreased by 6.58% and 7.95%, respectively. 

A total of 29.93 million acres of forests were planted in Chongqing, 3.75 million acres of farmland were converted to forests, and 7,935 square kilometers of soil erosion was newly increased, and the forest coverage rate reached 54.5%.