Ten year change of Hulun Lake: from "one lake governance" to "watershed governance" Hulun Lake | ecology | watershed

On the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, there is a fascinating lake. It is Hulun Lake, the largest freshwater lake in northern China, which means "a lake like the sea" in Mongolian, and plays an irreplaceable role in protecting biodiversity, regulating regional climate, maintaining grassland ecological balance and ensuring ecological security in northern China.

Hulun Lake once suffered from ecological crisis, and the outside world once claimed that it would be the next Lop Nur. In recent years, the Party Committee and Government of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Hulunbuir City have taken a number of effective measures in grassland ecological protection, industrial structure adjustment, management and protection capacity building, environmental improvement, scientific research monitoring, wetland ecosystem restoration, and water resource protection. Today, the wild geese along the Hulun Lake return to the blue waves, and their governance and protection work has achieved remarkable results.

Ecological crisis ushers in a turning point

In summer, Hulun Lake is the same color as water and sky. The lake is clear and the shore is clean, and there are many birds flying.

Early in the morning, Man Da, a volunteer lake ranger, rode a motorcycle to the lake. "I feel relieved to see that Hulun Lake is clear again." Growing up by the side of Hulun Lake, Man Da witnessed the ecological changes of Hulun Lake from good to bad and then to good. "When I was young, the lake water was clear, and I could directly draw water to drink. More than a decade ago, the lake surface was shrinking, and the water floating garbage could not be drunk."

Affected by periodic drought and human activities, from 2002 to 2012, the water level of Hulun Lake continued to decline, the lake surface shrank significantly, wetlands continued to shrink, wildlife declined sharply, and the ecological security of the basin was urgent.

"At that time, there were less fish and no birds in the lake, and the grassland around the lake was seriously sandy." Hou Yuguang, a herdsman living on the east bank of Hulun Lake, recalled that hunting, bird hunting, and illegal fishing were repeatedly prohibited.

In 2013, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region comprehensively launched the action to save Hulun Lake. Hulunbeier City shouldered the main responsibility, took the ecological protection and governance of Hulun Lake as the key project to build an important ecological security barrier in northern China, and implemented a number of protection and governance measures.

Starting from reducing man-made pollution, the local government cancelled the catering and tourism activities around the lake. All herdsmen in the core area and buffer zone of Hulun Lake National Nature Reserve moved out. Fishery companies withdrew their capture and changed production. Ten domestic sewage treatment and reuse projects were built, and every effort was made to minimize the impact of man-made activities.

"About 70% of the Hulun Lake basin is in the territory of the New Balhu Right Banner. Despite the perennial drought, we do not take a drop of water from the Hulun Lake," said Bu Hebayar, secretary of the New Balhu Right Banner Party Committee.

Hulun Lake Public Security Branch, a public security department specialized in protecting wetland ecology, was also established in Hulun Buir. Xue Aizhong, deputy director of the bureau, said that since 2016, they have investigated many criminal cases, effectively curbing the destruction of Hulun Lake resources and environment.

This is Hulun Lake taken on June 30. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lian Zhen

Ten years of governance have brought a turning point to the ecological crisis. The monitoring shows that the water level and water surface of Hulun Lake have risen steadily, the water surface has expanded to 2244.3 square kilometers, and the water volume has reached 13.97 billion cubic meters, close to the highest level in history.

Ecology is improving, and wild animals are back. At present, the number of birds, fish and mammals in Hulun Lake National Nature Reserve has increased to 345, 39 and 38 respectively. "The rabbit monkey, which I haven't seen for many years, actually settled down on my ranch the year before last." Man Da stood on the shore and saw the geese grazing down, stopping on the swamp and building their nests.

A sign on the bank of Hulun Lake reads: "We left nothing but footprints. We took nothing away except photography." It describes the harmonious coexistence between people and the lake.

From "governing lakes" to "governing river basins"

Behind the ecological change of Hulun Lake is the change of protection concept.

"In recent years, the governance and protection of Hulun Lake has gone through a detour, once shelved, and was criticized by the central environmental protection supervision for slow progress." Gao Runxi, secretary of the Hulun Buir Municipal Party Committee, said that the city learned from its mistakes, changed its thinking in time, and constantly optimized the comprehensive governance of Hulun Lake in practice.

This is Hulun Lake taken on June 30. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lian Zhen

In the past ten years, the concept of ecological protection and management of Hulun Lake has undergone three changes: first, from "discussing the lake on the basis of the lake" to comprehensive management of the basin; The second is to transform from "Nine Dragons Water Control" to coordinated and unified; Thirdly, on the basis of "stabilizing quantity and focusing on quality", more attention should be paid to the construction of water ecology.

"As a huff and puff lake, the amount of water and the ecological quality of Hulun Lake largely depend on the water from the upstream, and it is not allowed to 'discuss the lake on its own'," said Zou Weidong, director of the Hulun Lake National Nature Reserve Administration. However, at the beginning of Hulun Lake governance, more emphasis was placed on the governance of the lake itself.

Dou Huashan, a doctor specialized in wildlife protection and utilization, sticks to the front line of Hulun Lake management all the year round. He said: "At that time, all departments started from their own perspectives and lacked consideration of the impact on the whole Hulun Lake basin." After that, the local government adjusted the management plan in a timely manner, taking into account the role of wet land, sandy land, grassland and forest in the regional ecosystem and their relationship with rivers and lakes, and comprehensively promoting the comprehensive management of the Hulun Lake basin.

In order to solve the problem of "water control in Jiulong", Hulunbeier City merged several institutions involved in the management of Hulun Lake basin, realizing that "one thing is managed by one department".

The Hulun Lake Ecological Comprehensive Management Leading Group, headed by the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, and headed by the Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and the Mayor, was also established locally, and the implementation of the task was included in the annual assessment of party and government leadership at all levels. "The leading group is linked up from top to bottom, further promoting the development of integrated protection and management of the whole basin," said Mo Rigen, a staff member of the Hulun Lake Ecological Comprehensive Management Leading Group Office.

With the deepening of scientific research and practice, the governance goal of Hulun Lake has become increasingly clear.

This is the scene of Hulun Lake opening on April 17. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Kaiyan

Dou Huashan said that in the past, he pursued to improve the water quality indicators, but later found that the causes of Hulun Lake water pollution were complex, and the quality of water quality could not fully reflect the level of environmental quality. For example, although the water quality was poor and not suitable for human drinking, it could still meet the survival needs of various aquatic organisms.

In 2021, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment agreed not to carry out water quality assessment on Hulun Lake during the "14th Five Year Plan" period. Hulun Lake has also become the first pilot lake in China to carry out water ecological environment assessment. Dou Huashan said, "The shift from focusing on water quality to focusing on water ecology is a major manifestation of Hulun Lake's shift to scientific governance."

Guarding the clear waters of a lake still requires a long time of effort

At present, Hulun Lake is ushering in the most beautiful season. Local government departments are stepping up emergency drills against the blue algae bloom in Hulun Lake in summer.

In the past decade, the ecological protection and management of Hulun Lake have made great progress. People's understanding of the ecology of the Hulun Lake basin has gone from simple to deep. The analysis of the causes of the problems has gone from surface to interior. The management methods are more scientific and accurate.

However, new problems have also emerged.

In summer, some parts of the lake turn abnormally green, accompanied by a pungent odor, and dead fish occasionally rush up from the shore. The cyanobacteria bloom has become the most difficult problem in the management of Hulun Lake.

This is the scene of Hulun Lake opening on April 17. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Kaiyan

"Hulun Lake is an algal lake, and it is difficult to completely control cyanobacteria blooms by relying on human power. Therefore, the local mainly focuses on monitoring and early warning, and small-scale artificial management is implemented in key ecological areas." Dou Huashan said that the monitoring and early warning capacity of Hulun Lake is still insufficient, and the number of existing automatic monitoring stations cannot provide enough data collection in terms of the area of Hulun Lake Lake.

In addition, issues such as weak basic research and inconvenient cross-border scientific research cooperation have become increasingly prominent.

"Long term historical monitoring data can reflect the succession law of lakes and the low water and high water cycle, and guide us to carry out scientific protection and management work." Dou Huashan said, but at present, China's meteorological and hydrological data on Hulun Lake only span 60 or 70 years, and the water quality only has monitoring data of more than 20 years. The lack of historical data restricts basic research.

In the Hulun Lake Institute of Inland Lakes in Northern Cold and Dry Areas, a unit under the Administration of Hulun Lake National Nature Reserve, almost every room in the two-story building is filled with experimental detection instruments. Vice President of the research institute, Ao Wen, said, "While scientific research instruments are important, researchers are the key. Currently, the research institute lacks high-level researchers."

Li Fang, director of the Water Ecological Environment Division of the Inner Mongolia Ecological Environment Department, said that the governance achievements of Hulun Lake had not come easily. The next step of governance must rely on in-depth scientific research, follow the natural laws, and take steady and accurate governance and protection measures.

Protecting a lake with clear waters and green mountains still requires long-term efforts from all parties, and continuous exploration of methods and paths, in order to achieve the overall restoration of the ecological environment from protecting mountains, rivers, and lakes.

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