What is the story behind new friends settling in "Zhejiang"? Ecology | Deqing County | Story

Located in the north of Zhejiang Province, Tiaoxi flows through Yuhang, Deqing and other places. It is one of the eight major river systems in Zhejiang Province and the main tributary of the Taihu Lake Lake. Not long ago, a new fish species was discovered in the Tiaoxi River Basin, and experts named this small fish Tiaoxi Tuan. What kind of fish is this, and how did it appear in the Tiaoxi River Basin? What is the story behind it?

Recently, a new fish species was discovered for the first time in the Tiaoxi River basin in Zhejiang Province.

Zhou Jiajun is a fish expert in the East China region, whose job is to track various schools of fish.

According to expert judgment, this previously undiscovered fish belongs to a species of catfish, hence it is named Tiaoxi catfish. What's special about this petite and shimmering Tiaoxi Buck, which has a bright blue luster all over its body?

Zhou Jiajun, an engineer at the Wetland and Wildlife Resources Monitoring Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Forest Resources Monitoring Center, said that there is a significant genetic difference between it and other river basins in terms of genetics.

Why does Tiaoxi Piao appear in Tiaoxi? Is there any difference in the current Tiaoxi compared to before? With this question in mind, the reporter conducted a survey along the Tiaoxi River basin.

The Fengkou section of Dongtiao Creek is the main water source of Yuhang District in Hangzhou.

On the other side of the river is Deqing County, and they do not take water from Dongtiao Creek. Therefore, over the years, the different functional positioning of the same section of the river has led to differences in the protection of the river between the two regions.

Hu Jinhuan, a shrimp farming specialist in Xiazhuhu Street, Deqing County, has been raising shrimp for over 20 years. Speaking of the past, Hu Jinhuan still remembers the water pollution caused by shrimp farming vividly.

Hu Jinhuan, a shrimp farmer in Xiazhu Lake, Deqing County, Zhejiang Province: At that time, the tail water from shrimp farming was directly discharged into the river, but later the pollution became increasingly serious.

Xiazhuhu Street is known as the "hometown of Chinese green shrimp", with a shrimp farming area of 14000 acres. In addition to green shrimp, the pig farming scale in Xiazhu Lake is also very large. Ji Deming was a pig farmer back then, and his family produced over 4000 pigs annually.

Shen Quanbo, Deputy Director of Xiazhuhu Sub district Office in Deqing County, Zhejiang Province: In the past, the people mainly engaged in animal husbandry, mainly for health preservation of pigs, river clams, turtles, and some high-density fish, resulting in very serious pollution.

Xiazhu Lake is only a few hundred meters away from Dongtiao Creek, and the water system here is directly connected to Dongtiao Creek, making it one of the water sources of Dongtiao Creek. The sewage from the aquaculture industry is directly discharged into the Dongtiao River, which has caused great suffering to the Yuhang district on the opposite bank, which draws water from the river.

Xu Zhonghua, the person in charge of Yuhang Water Production Co., Ltd. in Hangzhou, Zhejiang: Ten years ago, the water quality of Dongtiao Creek was relatively poor, and water environmental pollution incidents occasionally occurred, especially during flood and dry seasons, which were particularly serious and had a certain impact on the water production process of the water plant.

The quality of water in the Dongtiaoxi River basin in Deqing County directly affects the safety of drinking water sources in Yuhang District. However, according to the division of water source protection areas at that time, Deqing County is not within the scope of water source protection areas, and it is useless for Yuhang District to be anxious. What should we do?

Zhang Lili, Deputy Director of the Yuhang Branch of the Hangzhou Ecological Environment Bureau in Zhejiang Province: The Yuhang District Government is actively calling for the delineation of Deqing County on the opposite bank of the Fengkou section of the Dongtiao River as a drinking water source protection zone.

In 2013, the relevant area of Deqing County in Dongtiaoxi was designated as a drinking water protection zone by Zhejiang Province. Deqing County has launched a water control campaign, investing nearly 1 billion yuan to comprehensively manage the Dongtiao River. Firstly, pollution was intercepted from the source, and polluting enterprises, mines, and small pig farms were shut down.

Wang Ping, Deputy Director of the Deqing Branch of the Ecological Environment Bureau of Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province: At the beginning of the rectification, we shut down some of them. Some of them who have the ability to renovate will use environmental protection facilities for renovation to ensure that emissions meet standards and minimize losses for the people.

Ji Deming's pig farm was relatively large, so it was included in the list of environmental protection renovations at that time. He spent money on environmental protection facilities for sewage treatment.

Shen Quanbo, Deputy Director of Xiazhuhu Sub district Office in Deqing County, Zhejiang Province: Later, environmental protection requirements were further raised, and some breeding farms did not meet the technical requirements for environmental protection facilities. Therefore, in 2016, we completely shut down the breeding farms, started returning them to the fields, and encouraged the people to grow crops. This was indeed a process of exploration.

In 2016, Ji Deming's pig farm once again faced closure.

Ji Deming closed the pig farm, contracted nearly a hundred acres of mountainous areas, and planted fruit trees.

After the delineation of drinking water source protection areas, Deqing County relocated industrial enterprises and treated water pollution, resulting in certain restrictions on economic development. The decrease in local government revenue makes it difficult to fully invest in water management; However, the income of coastal residents is affected, so they are not particularly proactive in restoring the ecological environment of rivers. The governance of the Dongtiaoxi River Basin seems to have entered a bottleneck.

Wang Ping, Deputy Director of the Deqing Branch of the Ecological Environment Bureau of Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province: Environmental and water treatment require a large amount of investment, and the development of some local industries also requires investment in environmental protection projects and facilities. However, economic development is limited and local income is decreasing. It was difficult to sustain investment at that time.

How to break the bottleneck? The two places have been trying to find a way. At the national level, in recent years, the ecological compensation system for river basins has been included in the Environmental Protection Law, Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, etc., becoming a legal system of the country. After studying the implementation of compensation mechanisms in other regions, the two regions finally had a preliminary idea in early 2018 after consultation.

Wang Ping, Deputy Director of the Deqing Branch of the Ecological Environment Bureau of Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province: The gambling agreement between the two parties is based on whether the water quality meets the third level standard. If the water quality meets the third level standard throughout the year, Yuhang District will give us Deqing County 10 million yuan per year. If the water quality exceeds the third level standard or if a major pollution accident occurs, Deqing County will give Yuhang District 5 million yuan.

For such an agreement, when it was first proposed, there were both joy and worry.

Wang Ping, Deputy Director of the Deqing Branch of the Ecological Environment Bureau of Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province: The pressure is great, and this is a bet. If it meets the standards, it is naturally a good thing, but if it does not meet the standards, it will cost 5 million yuan in real gold and silver every year.

Zhang Lili, Deputy Director of the Yuhang Branch of the Ecological Environment Bureau of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province: Yuhang District allocated 10 million yuan from the district finance to Deqing County. At that time, many people did not understand because environmental governance was a responsibility to protect the land, and water management in Deqing County was something they should do well.

The ecological compensation mechanism in river basins is more based on the distribution of benefits, using government and market means to regulate the interests between upstream and downstream within the basin, as well as with other ecological protection stakeholders, based on the value of ecosystem services, ecological protection costs, and development opportunity costs.

Ma Lekuan, Deputy Director of the Water Ecological Environment Planning Research Institute of the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment: As the beneficiaries of good water quality, a portion of the development benefits should be used to compensate, reflecting this principle of fairness and reasonableness.

After reaching a consensus, in September 2018, Yuhang District and Deqing County officially signed an ecological compensation agreement for the Dongtiaoxi River Basin.

Ma Lekuan, Deputy Director of the Water Ecological Environment Planning Research Institute of the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment: River basin ecological compensation is not just about giving a simple sum of money, but more about reflecting common protection, common development, and common prosperity. In recent years, various regions have been actively exploring new compensation methods, such as talent cultivation, in addition to financial compensation.

The signing of the compensation agreement not only increased the enthusiasm of Deqing County, but also strengthened cooperation between the two regions. On the basis of the compensation agreement, relevant departments of Deqing County and Yuhang District have signed a framework agreement for basin co governance, regularly holding joint meetings to organize and implement joint river patrols, joint law enforcement and other water protection activities.

Every month, professionals from Yuhang District and Deqing County conduct joint water quality sampling and testing. The results of the testing are not only a reference for the dynamic adjustment and collaborative governance measures of the two regions, but also a basis for the implementation of ecological compensation agreements.

Since the implementation of the watershed ecological compensation agreement, the water quality in Deqing County has met the requirements. Yuhang District pays Deqing County 10 million yuan annually, and Deqing County also provides 5 million yuan annually, with a cumulative fund of 75 million yuan over five years. All of these funds are used for water ecological governance and related project investment along the Dongtiao River in Deqing County.

With the support of ecological compensation funds, multiple high standard water treatment projects have been constructed in Xiazhu Lake. Hu Jinhuan's Harmony Village has also constructed a shrimp tail water treatment project.

Through the ecological restoration treatment of "four ponds and two dams", not only the rich nutrients in the water body have been fully degraded, but the water that meets the discharge standards can also be reused in shrimp ponds. Good water nurtures good shrimp, and the "water spirit" of Xiazhu Lake - green shrimp has been developed into a well-known brand, becoming the main growth point for villagers to become rich and increase their income.

At the same time, Deqing County actively promotes water ecological restoration and creates more than 20 underwater forests. Xiazhuhu Street is one of the first townships to implement underwater forests.

Compared to many years ago, the current Dongtiao Creek is already very different. It is in such a clear and bottomless stream that people have discovered the Tiao Creek.

The improvement of the ecological environment has not only brought about the abundance of local species, but also brought about the proliferation of over 800 species of animals and plants here. The "Oriental gem" crested ibis, a bird species, also naturally thrives in the wild of Xiazhu Lake.

The story of environmental protection cooperation between Deqing County and Yuhang District on both sides of Dongtiao Creek is actually a microcosm of China's recent efforts in basin ecological compensation.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, documents such as the "Overall Plan for the Reform of the Ecological Civilization System" and the "Opinions on the Improvement of the Ecological Protection Compensation Mechanism" have been introduced, providing top-level design for the comprehensive promotion of the ecological compensation mechanism. At the same time, from the new Environmental Protection Law to the new Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, and then to the Yangtze River Protection Law, the legal basis for ecological protection compensation is becoming increasingly clear.

Ma Lekuan, Deputy Director of the Water Ecological Environment Planning Research Institute of the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment: The establishment of a basin ecological compensation mechanism first reflects the principle of fairness, sharing protection costs and development benefits together; The second significance is to promote joint protection of the watershed; The third significance is to promote common development; The fourth significance is to promote green development in the watershed.

If it weren't for a good ecological environment, the Tiaoxi Lap would probably not have appeared here. The significant effectiveness of water management in Tiaoxi cannot be achieved without the ecological protection compensation mechanism. As of now, China has established ecological protection compensation mechanisms in 15 cross provincial river basins, involving 19 provinces, regions, and cities including Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian, and Guangxi. The vast majority of provinces have established compensation mechanisms for watershed ecological protection within the province. Horizontal ecological compensation mechanisms are also being established for the entire Yangtze River, Yellow River, and other river basins. Through this mechanism innovation, the co governance of water environment in multiple regions will become clearer in responsibilities, more effective in cooperation, and more effective in water management.

Editor | Li Jing, Liang Ye, Han Yuting

Camera | Liu Wen and Liu Yi

Editing | Zhao Yunlong and Zhou Wei