New Era China Research Bank ｜ The water quality of the main stream of the Yangtze River has maintained Class II for three consecutive years.

Xinhua News Agency, Wuhan, July 6th Title: The water quality of the main stream of the Yangtze River has maintained Class II for three consecutive years.

Xinhua News Agency reporters Hui Xiaoyong, Li Siyuan and Tanaka Quan.

The reporter recently learned from a marching interview along the Yangtze River that with the continuous implementation of the great protection of the Yangtze River, the water ecological quality of the Yangtze River has improved significantly. According to the data of the Yangtze River Basin Ecological Environment Supervision Administration of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, since 2020, the water quality of the main stream of the Yangtze River has remained Class II for three consecutive years, and the Yangtze River, which was once "not seriously ill", has achieved "initial recovery after illness".

"The national control section of the main stream of the Yangtze River has reached Class II water quality for three consecutive years, which meets the drinking water standard." Xu Yi, director of the Yangtze River Basin Ecological Environment Supervision Administration of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that overall, the health level of the water ecosystem in the Yangtze River Basin has improved year by year, and the ecological function has been significantly improved. The proportion of water quality section with Grade III in the Yangtze River Basin has increased from 81.8% in 2015 to 98.1% in 2022.

The Yangtze River, the mother river of the Chinese nation, has nourished thousands of waters and Qian Shan for thousands of years. Influenced by the extensive development mode for many years, "the Yangtze River is sick, and it is not very sick". In recent years, all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the Yangtze River basin have placed the restoration of the Yangtze River ecology in an overwhelming position, successively implementing the "closing and moving" of chemical enterprises along the Yangtze River, tackling the key problems of comprehensive improvement of the Yangtze River coastline, and banning fishing in key waters of the basin for 10 years … Many times of "surgery" and several doses of "good medicine" have gradually solved a series of water ecological problems in the Yangtze River.

Up to now, a total of 60,000 kilometers of river and lake shorelines have been investigated in the Yangtze River basin, and more than 85,000 sewage outlets have been found, which has solved more than 42,000 problems of direct and disorderly sewage discharge. 1,703 centralized sewage treatment facilities were built in provincial and above industrial parks, and 752 problems such as imperfect sewage pipe network and abnormal operation of facilities were solved. 1054 tailings ponds with environmental problems have been rectified.

People don’t live up to rivers, and rivers will live up to people. At present, the Yangtze River, finless porpoises frequently appear, and the number has gradually increased to 1249, becoming the new favorite of cities along the Yangtze River; The frequency of the fish disappeared in the Yangtze River for many years increased rapidly. Coilia ectenes, one of the "Three Seasons of the Yangtze River", returned to Dongting Lake to lay eggs. In 2022, 193 species of fish were detected in key waters of the Yangtze River, an increase of 25 species compared with 2020.

Institutional changes related to the water ecological protection of the Yangtze River are also under way. At present, the Yangtze River basin is taking the lead in pilot water ecological assessment, which is another major progress and innovation in ecological protection.

"From focusing only on water quality in the past to focusing on water ecological changes now, it marks that the main task of water ecological protection in the Yangtze River has shifted from water pollution prevention to equal emphasis on overall water ecological protection and restoration." Xu Wei said.