Baiyangdian brought back to life in Hebei

Editor's note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world.

When Feng Erwei was a boy, he recalls people drinking water directly from Baiyangdian Lake in Hebei province. Diving into northern China's largest freshwater lake with his friends, he said he could keep his eyes open underwater and see all the fish and shrimp swimming around.

The 42-year-old from Xidi village has spent the last 20 years captaining a passenger boat on the lake, and has seen firsthand the ebb and flow of its fate.

The fortunes and health of Baiyangdian began to sour in parts during the previous century as China quickly industrialized. In some parts of the lake, it became so polluted that even the locals would go out of their way to avoid it.

"The foul smell from the lake forced people who lived near it to keep their windows closed, and nobody swam in it any longer," he said.

However, since a plan was announced on April 1, 2017, to establish the Xiong'an New Area, which encompasses Baiyangdian, significant improvements have been made to the environment.

The plan for Xiong'an New Area calls for the development of a green, low-carbon and innovative city that can take on many of Beijing's non-capital functions.

Situated approximately 100 kilometers southwest of the capital, the new area consists of Anxin, Xiongxian and Rongcheng counties.

President Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the construction of Xiong'an.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has been personally involved in making decisions and plans to develop the new area, and since 2017, he has visited the area three times.

In his latest tour in May, Xi stressed that the development of Xiong'an is a national project of millennial significance and should be pushed forward with concrete actions and sustained efforts.

At a convention center, Xi was briefed about the progress of the overall design and development of Xiong'an and the efforts made to restore and conserve the ecological environment of Baiyangdian.

Pollution control

As the area surrounding Baiyangdian industrialized, its water resources were strained and the lake suffered from drought and pollution caused by industrial runoff.

Chemicals carried by sewage poisoned the water and lake beds, decimating the aquatic life.

According to Xiong'an's department of ecology and environment, the quality of water in the lake was below Grade V, the worst in the country's five-tier quality system for surface water, in 2017.

Thanks to a series of measures that have been taken since the establishment of Xiong'an, the quality of water in the lake reached Grade III in 2021, and has stayed at that level for the past two years.

Yang Shan, an official with the department, said the improvement has occurred thanks to efforts to control the sources of pollution and intercept pollutants before rolling out measures for ecological remediation.

As a low-lying lake, Baiyangdian receives water from many small watercourses. This means that some pollutants may be carried into the lake from outside Xiong'an, especially during the rainy season.

As part of the efforts to address the problem, Yang said two constructed wetlands were built so that water from outside Xiong'an could be purified before flowing into Baiyangdian.

The official listed a series of measures Xiong'an authorities have taken to prevent wastewater generated inside the new area from entering Baiyangdian.

Currently, there are 7 sewage treatment plants in Xiong'an, the total daily capacity of which is 249,000 metric tons.

The quality of treated wastewater from these plants, which have been upgraded or built following high standards, can all reach Grade III, he added.

Water with a quality of Grade III is good enough for most aquatic organisms to survive.

To enhance rain and sewage diversion, 79 km of pipes were upgraded in urban areas in Anxin, Xiongxian and Rongcheng, Yang said.

In rural Xiong'an, all sewage disposal facilities have been upgraded. But as the aquatic environment in Baiyangdian keeps improving, these small facilities may not be enough to treat wastewater to the quality of water in the lake, he said.

To solve the problem, the treated wastewater from these small facilities is being diverted into ponds in 10 newly built rural parks, instead of being directly discharged into Baiyangdian, he said.

To further improve the ecological environment of the lake, 741 fish farms were cleared in 2018, Yang said. Following that, dredging has taken place from 2019 to last year, removing more than 11.9 million cubic meters of mud from the lake.

"Currently, both pollution control and ecological remediation programs are being conducted in Baiyangdian. But there have been increasingly fewer projects on pollution control, and this means that the pollution treatment work in the lake has almost been completed," he said.

In another move to help bring Baiyangdian back to life, a water replenishment program was launched in 2018, according to the Xiong'an government.

Over 5.9 billion cubic meters of water have been diverted into the lake, of which the South-to-North Water Diversion Project contributed 574 million tons.

Tian Yuan, an official with Xiong'an's department of construction and traffic management, said Baiyangdian is being supplemented by reclaimed water from sewage treatment plants.

Such reclaimed water is being discharged into water bodies that empty into Baiyangdian at a speed of 2 cubic meters per second, she said.

Richer biodiversity

As water quality in Baiyangdian continues to improve, more species have chosen the lake as their habitat.

According to Xiong'an authorities, the lake now has 276 species of wild birds, 70 more than in 2016, and 48 species of wild fish, 21 more than in 2016.

Tian Yongchang, who works at the natural resources bureau of Anxin county, said that nine avian habitats have been designated in the wetland.

A mode of management that incorporates government departments, nongovernmental associations and volunteers has also been adopted to mobilize more people to participate in bird protection, he said.

In 2018, Aythya baeri, or Baer's pochard, which is categorized as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and is under level-one State protection, was spotted in Baiyangdian.

The birds were observed brooding at the lake for the first time in July 2022, meaning Baiyangdian has become a breeding area for the species, which was more commonly known to breed in Russia and Northeast China.

"The birds at Baiyangdian are not only increasing in terms of population but also in terms of species. The appearance of rare birds signifies that the diversity and stability of Baiyangdian's ecosystem have improved significantly," Tian noted.

With a lot of his passengers birders, Feng, the boat captain, is keenly aware of the increasingly greater biodiversity in Baiyangdian.

"Now, it's easy for me to help birders find rare birds under level-one and level-two State protection," he said.

When the temperature gets even warmer, it won't be strange to see flocks of birds so big that they can blot out the sun in Baiyangdian, he continued.

The boatman has seen a boom in business following the environmental improvement.

He now ferries up to 200 tourists a day in the peak tourist season and has seen his income improve.

Moreover, as the water quality gets better, he can enjoy some of his favorite local food from his childhood made from edible aquatic plants.

Because of the heavy pollution, locals didn't collect these plants for a long time, he said.

"The Baiyangdian of my childhood is coming back," he smiled.

Zhang Yu and Xinhua contributed to this story.

houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn