The Yongding River is an important water resources conservation area, ecological protective barrier, and ecological corridor in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China. Since the 1980s, the Yongding River has experienced several problems, including over-exploitation of water resources, severe water pollution, river desiccation, and ecosystem degradation.
In December 2016, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the former National Forestry Administration jointly issued the Overall Plan for Integrated Management and Ecological Restoration of the Yongding River, with the aim of returning the Yongding River to a “flowing river, green river, clean river, and safe river”.
Since the implementation of this plan, the Yongding River is showing obvious results in integrated management and ecological restoration by means of systematic and collaborative governance of upstream and downstream. The green ecological corridor has been initially formed, and ecological functions are gradually recovering.
Multiple water sources of externally transferred water, reclaimed water, and local water are coordinated, and the unified dispatching of upstream and downstream ecological water quantity is strengthened, resulting in the continuous increase of “flowing rivers”. Water flowed all along the Yongding River course to the sea once in 2021, twice in spring and autumn in 2022, and throughout the whole year in 2023.
The systematic management of mountain, water, forest, field, lake, grassland and sand in the Yongding River Basin is promoted, the basin ecological security barrier is gradually stabilized, and the number of wetland bird populations increases year by year. The “green river” is gradually emerging.
The “River and Lake Cleaning Action” and “Illegal occupation, mining, stacking, and construction clearance actions” are continuously carried out, which improves the appearance and environmental quality of rivers and lakes. The effect of “clean river” is obvious. The compliance rate of the main stream embankment has significantly increased. The successful fighting against the catastrophic flood in the Basin in July 2023 shows that the “Safe River” is steadily advancing.
The construction of the Smart Yongding River is accelerated and an information system for the unified water resources dispatching and management of Yongding
River is basically built. The governments of the four provinces and cities along the Yongding River, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and Shanxi, have negotiated and introduced a strategic investment company, and jointly invested and established Yongding River Investment Co., Ltd. The law of joint efforts of the government and the market has gradually been explored, and the “Yongding River Sample” for integrated basin management has been first formed.
Kang Jie,
Hai River Water Conservancy Commission