Lake chiefs improving district waterways

Wang Anqi and Li Xinran

Twelve lake chiefs have been appointed to protect the numerous freshwater lakes, ponds and reservoirs in Jiading, which include Liuyun Lake, the man-made Yuanxiang Lake, Yegou Reservoir and Anting New Town Pond.

The district has also set up archives for the lakes, ponds and reservoirs and tailored management for each of them. 

Lake chiefs fulfill their duties through water space control and shoreline management and protection, water resources protection and water pollution control, comprehensive improvement of water environment, ecological control and rehabilitation, law enforcement and supervision. 

Residents of Jiading New Town have found that the water of Yuanxian Lake in the vicinity is clearer, the garbage is gone, and the surrounding environment is more orderly. A year ago, the biggest man-made lake in Shanghai’s west was under threat because of the spread of invasive plants and sewage discharge.

Appointed chief of Yuanxian Lake, Yuan Qigen led community workers to carry out a series of actions together with government agencies. 

Illegal businesses were demolished. Most of those lakeside businesses were unlicensed while some restaurants and tea houses even dumped waste into the lake, Yuan said.

“We have a policy of zero tolerance toward such kind of activities,” Yuan said. 

Lake chiefs make use of the latest technology. A mobile app offers easy access to the daily management of the lakes in Jiading.

Using the app, community workers can take photos of problems they find and upload them with an explanation of situation as well as the location.

Officials can see when a problem is posted and solve it within 24 hours. All 2,036 waterways in Jiading have river chiefs and there are clean-up plans for each.