2018年CRI Voluntary river chiefs to help water protection in east China

 

Zhoushan, a city in eastern China and a critica point along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, has seen improvements in water quality as the government has channeled more energy into environmental protection.

Inspired by China's River Chief system, the city also appointed several voluntary river chiefs from among the public to help inspire common people to become engaged in water protection.

50-year-old Zhang Hongxing has been a voluntary river chief since March 2017. He walks along a 1,130-meter river in the town twice a day to make sure that no rubbish floats on the river and no sewage is drained into the river.

Zhang used to be a contractor¹ for a brickyard with 70-80 workers. The brickyard was demolished² in 2013 because local factories had brought about severe water contamination.

He said he could earn over one million yuan, more than 150-thousand US dollars every year, when running the brickyard. But he agreed to close down his brickyard at that time because he wanted to do something for his hometown.

"I grew up here in the Baiquan Town. In the past, I witnessed the appalling³ environment here and I couldn't bear it. I want to do something. And I recommended myself when the local government recruited the voluntary river chiefs."

Zhang is not the only one. In Zhoushan city, 62 voluntary river chiefs were in service in 2017. All of them are native villagers.

In addition to selecting voluntary river chiefs, local government in the town has also built three ponds covering an area of over 7,000 square meters, where native villagers can spend their leisure time.

Yao Chunlei, an official in Baiquan town, says they have also built a special laundry zone for the villagers' convenience.

"In the past, nearby residents did the laundry by the river and caused the water pollution. Now we have a special laundry zone for them. After they finish their laundry, the wasted water will drain into the sewage disposal pool. Only the treated sewage could be drained into the river."

In December 2016, the central government released a document ordering the establishment of the river chief system, which requires officials at every level of government to take full responsibility for the protection of rivers and lakes in regions under their jurisdiction⁴. 

Responsibilities of the river and lake chiefs will include water resource protection, pollution prevention, riverbank management and ecological⁵ restoration.

The river chief system is going to be established nationwide by the end of this year.

For CRI, this is Huang Yue.

1 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

2 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

3 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

4 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

5 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.