Source: China News Network
Hefei, 5 Sep (China News Service) Title: Anhui ChaoHu Lake Comprehensive Management Presses the "Fast Forward Button": There Are Fewer Cyanobacteria and More Birds
China News Service reporter Wu Lan
Walking through the eighteen Lianwei wetlands in Feidong County, Hefei City, Anhui Province, you can see barnyard grass swaying with the wind, corn standing on the stalks, lotus flowers still blooming, Eastern white storks flying low, and there are traces of wild ducks passing quickly on the water surface from time to time.
"Eighteen Lianwei is an important part of the ecological buffer zone of Chao Lake and the wetland group around Chao Lake, and through multi-stage restoration, it will play an important role in protecting the water quality of the lake area." Zhu Guangping, director of the Scenic Area Development Department of hefei Huanhu Office, introduced that the completion of the Eighteen Lianwei Wetland Project will provide effective assistance for improving the ecological environment around Chao Lake, orderly restoring the ecological wetland around the lake estuary, and accelerating the construction of the beautiful Chao Lake.
ChaoHu Lake, one of the five largest freshwater lakes in China, has an area of 780 square kilometers, located on the left bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with a basin area of 13,500 square kilometers. Historically, it naturally communicates with the Yangtze River and swallows each other, and due to the successive construction of Lake Control Projects such as Chaohu Lock and Yuxi Gate, Chao Lake has gradually become a semi-enclosed lake. Later, the Chaohu Lake Basin faced with outstanding problems such as river and lake pollution, shrinkage of the water system, and disappearance of wetlands, and was once listed as one of the "three rivers (Huaihe, Haihe, Liaohe) and three lakes (Taihu, Chaohu, dianchi)" that China focused on prevention and control.
The data picture shows the scenery of Chaohu Wetland taken by drones on November 28, 2019. Photo by Zhang Yazi, a reporter from China News Service
In 2012, Hefei began to continuously implement the ecological protection and restoration of Chao Lake phases 1 to 6, and Chao Lake entered a new stage of comprehensive treatment.
"PhaseS1 and Phase II have been completed, and Phases III to VI are being fully promoted." Gao Binyou, deputy secretary general of the Hefei Municipal Government and director of the Hefei Lake Ring Office, said that at present, the total investment in the comprehensive treatment of Chaohu Lake has reached 36 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), and the governance work has achieved positive results. In 2021, 136 projects will be arranged for implementation, and an investment of 8.81 billion yuan will be completed.
"The Eighteen Lianwei Wetland Restoration Project is an important part of the comprehensive treatment project of Huanchao Lake." Liu Zhiheng, a section member of the Eighteen Lianwei Wetland Construction and Management Bureau in Feidong County, Hefei City, said that the project covers a total area of about 27.6 square kilometers, with a total construction investment estimated at about 2.1 billion yuan, mainly building a wetland inlet and outlet water system, a multi-paddy field water purification system, a wetland plant, etc., and is currently undergoing the third phase of the project.
"After the completion of the Eighteen Lianwei Wetland Restoration Project, biodiversity will be more abundant." Zhu Guangyou said. According to reports, at that time, birds can increase by nearly 50 species, fish can increase by nearly 13 species, special periods can also store flood water of 130 million cubic meters, the annual purification into Chao Lake pollution water of nearly 300 million cubic meters, becoming "the nest of birds, the kidney of Chao Lake, the reservoir of floods".
The large-scale outbreak of cyanobacteria has always been a stubborn chronic disease in Chaohu Lake, and it is difficult to deal with it. "In the past, the 'man-sea tactics' were implemented, and more than 100 boats and more than 1,000 people were dispatched every day to salvage cyanobacteria." Jia Liangqing, secretary of the party group of the Hefei Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, said, "Now the comprehensive use of science and technology, ecology, engineering and other measures to control cyanobacteria, has built 5 algae water separation stations, 3 cyanobacteria deep well treatment devices, 4 cyanobacteria magnetic capture ships, more than 300 algae control facilities such as flow pushers." ”
According to reports, the first appearance of cyanobacteria in Chao Lake this year was delayed by 56 days compared with the same period last year, and the cumulative area was reduced by 84.4%, basically achieving no odor of cyanobacteria in Chao Lake.
Recently, Chao Lake, as the only lake-type watershed in China, was successfully shortlisted in the first batch of national "Ten Major Projects for the Integrated Protection and Restoration of Grass and Sand in Shanshui Lintian Lake (referred to as Shanshui Engineering)", with a total investment of 15.1 billion yuan.
Gao Binyou introduced that the landscape project of Chao Lake aims to improve the diversity, stability and service functions of the river basin ecosystem, focusing on the implementation of 37 projects in eight categories, such as river cleansing, wetland restoration, and fishing and lake recuperation, which are planned to be basically completed in 2023.
The data picture shows the wetland scenery of Chao Lake taken on November 28, 2019. Photo by Zhang Yazi, a reporter from China News Service
"In the next step, we will implement the 'five major projects' such as clear water, ecological restoration, and green development, and strive to make ChaoHu the best business card in Hefei." Gao Binyou introduced that for example, the re-creation of the "one lake clear spring water" clear water project will build a water pollution prevention and control system for the whole basin, all directions and the whole process. The ecological restoration project that dresses up "a landscape" strengthens the restoration of the composite ecosystem and builds a green ecological barrier around Chao Lake.
"The comprehensive management of Chao Lake is changing from 'the rule of one lake' to 'watershed governance', from 'pollution prevention' to 'ecological restoration', and the new picture of Chao Lake with clean water and beautiful scenery is slowly unfolding." Jia Liangqing said that the number and variety of migratory birds overwintering have also increased to varying degrees year by year, and the Oriental White Stork, known as a "national treasure", has soared in Chao Lake for three consecutive years. (End)