Zhangjiajie’s water environment quality ranks 13th in the country

On January 30, the reporter learned from the first media briefing of 2023 held by Zhangjiajie Ecological Environment Bureau that according to the comprehensive ranking of water quality of state-controlled cross-sections from January to December 2022 published by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Zhangjiajie ranked thirteenth in the country, which was nine places higher than the previous year, and the best result in history.

Zhangjiajie is well known for its clear waters and green mountains. Over the past year, the city has given priority to ecology and green development, attached great importance to water protection, and promoted the protection and treatment of rivers and reservoirs. It has also achieved a steady improvement in the quality of the city’s water environment, with the water quality of national surface water assessment sections and the quality of the water environment in key watersheds keeping improved.

Last year, the water quality of 23 national and provincial assessment sections reached Class II or above, and 14 sections reached Class I. The water quality of provincial assessment sections ranked first in the province, and the water quality of all drinking water sources at the municipal and county levels was up to the standard.

A picture of joint management and concerted efforts was drawn. The main local leaders took the lead in river patrol, effectively strengthened the scheduling and supervision of water environment work, timely studied and solved the difficult problems encountered in the work, and fully promoted the implementation of water environment quality improvement work.

Six local regulations on ecological and environmental protection were promulgated, and 30 documents were issued to enhance the rule of law, institutionalization and standardization of ecological and environmental work.

The fight against pollution was carried out resolutely. It stepped up efforts to rectify the prominent ecological and environmental problems pointed out by the central and provincial inspectors, focused on key areas and links such as urban living and industrial pollution, and continued to promote the “three-year action to improve the quality and efficiency of urban sewage treatment above the county level”. Four districts and counties have completed the expansion and upgrading of urban sewage treatment plants, adding new urban sewage treatment capacity of 90,000 tons per day.

In 2022, the city invested 102 million yuan in the construction and renovation of 33.5 kilometers of new sewage networks, completing 165% of the provincial task and 56 township sewage treatment plants, with three industrial parks in the city achieving full collection of industrial sewage.

It carried out special actions such as the improvement of illegal sand mining in river channels and the remediation of sewage outlets entering the rivers. 86 hydropower stations stopped running, more than 100 hectares of net cages were dismantled, and all the aquaculture facilities including the net cages were all removed in the city’s natural waters. It completely banned river sand mining, with all 29 projects closed down for ecological restoration.

The environmental quality was greatly improved. With the focus on the Lishui River and the Loushui River, it vigorously promoted the greening of banks along waters such as Yutan reservoir and Huangshi reservoir to create beautiful scenery and improve the water ecology.

In addition, it implemented eight water environment management and ecological restoration projects, including the pilot comprehensive improvement of Lishui River basin, continued to carry out the “zoning, erecting signs and treating” so that the water quality of all water sources reached the standards and all urban odorous water bodies were eliminated, 129 river outfalls were rectified, 61 were closed.

It has combined ecological civilization with city building, rural living environment improvement, beautiful countryside construction, and “beautiful in deployment and implementation. 9 national ecological villages and towns, 172 provincial ecological villages and towns, as well as 173 demonstration villages and towns have been built.

Efforts were made to promote green and low-carbon development. The city compiled a special chapter on ecological protection and development into its “14th Five-Year Plan”, coordinated the efforts to treat pollution, banks and fishing in the Yangtze River’s main and branch tributaries, and highlighted the ecological protection and restoration of the Yangtze River basin.

At the same time, the city steadfastly reduced pollution and carbon emissions, and completed the water emission reduction tasks assigned by the province ahead of schedule. It established 29 lists for environmental management and control to promote the special treatment of water environment problems in industrial parks, so as to ensure the stable operation of environmental infrastructure and compliance with emission standards.

In addition, it accelerated the promotion of green development, built a new industrial system with innovative and integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries, vigorously developed green industries around bio-medicine, green food and tourism commodities, and continuously enriched the characteristic tourism products integrating sightseeing, leisure and vacation.

The contribution rates of primary, secondary and tertiary industries to economic growth were 5.2%, 13.9% and 80.9% respectively, and eco-tourism has become a major force driving economic growth. It achieved both the ecological beauty and people's prosperity.