250
11 The River and Lake Chief System
regions. A total of 2,748 lakes with a water surface area of less than 1 km
2 had also
been appointed lake chiefs. Since 2017, 694 river chiefs have been accountable for
management and protection problems, of whom five have been prefectural chiefs,
85 have been county chiefs and 604 have been township chiefs.
Now, MWR is seeking to promote the transition of river chiefs from ‘with the
name’ to ‘to practice’. The targets emphasized by MWR include (MWR 2019):
• Developing and improving river and lake documentation. An archive will be
developed for each lake and river that consists of lists of problems, targets, tasks,
measures, and responsibilities.
• Conducting special actions. MWR has conducted special actions again illegal
encroachment, mining, obstacles, and construction to tackle these common
outstanding problems. Local governments will be supervised to take special
actions to deal with future local river and lake management and protection
problems.
• Promoting systematic management. By administrating river course/lake and
protecting water resources as its core, MWR will promote systematic management
to address the unclear boundary of river and lake management and protection, as
well as the problems of water shortages and water pollution in lakes and rivers.
• Fully fulfilling the responsibilities of the river chief.
11.4 Discussion
Since the introduction of the river chief system in the early 2000s in some areas
of water pollution, the system has been developed to deal with key water resources
problems each time and has been impacted by the external social and economic
policy. The system has developed through a combination of bottom-up and topdown approaches. The system was originally implemented in economically developed regions with serious water pollution problems, such as the Jiangsu and Zhejiang
provinces, and was also implemented on a county level to deal with river pollution
in urban areas in 2003. In 2008, it was expanded to the Taihu Lake Basin in Wuxi
Prefecture for water pollution control. It was subsequently adopted by Kunming,
Capital of Yunnan Province to deal with the serious pollution of the Dianchi Lake at
the end of 2010. After 2016, it was implemented all over the country by the central
government.
The river chief system is not a single system; rather, it is a system aggregation, covering water resource management, water pollution control, and river course
management, among other areas. In some ways, it is like the strictest water resources
management strategy but with wider coverage. However, it also differs from the
strictest strategy in that the river chief system is required to set up offices, and the
system is written into the revised 2017 Water Pollution Control Law. The system also
places more emphasis on water pollution control. The river chief system was originally tried in regions with critical water pollution. In the early stages, the system was
targeted towards water pollution control, with most river chief offices set up in the
11 The River and Lake Chief System
regions. A total of 2,748 lakes with a water surface area of less than 1 km
2 had also
been appointed lake chiefs. Since 2017, 694 river chiefs have been accountable for
management and protection problems, of whom five have been prefectural chiefs,
85 have been county chiefs and 604 have been township chiefs.
Now, MWR is seeking to promote the transition of river chiefs from ‘with the
name’ to ‘to practice’. The targets emphasized by MWR include (MWR 2019):
• Developing and improving river and lake documentation. An archive will be
developed for each lake and river that consists of lists of problems, targets, tasks,
measures, and responsibilities.
• Conducting special actions. MWR has conducted special actions again illegal
encroachment, mining, obstacles, and construction to tackle these common
outstanding problems. Local governments will be supervised to take special
actions to deal with future local river and lake management and protection
problems.
• Promoting systematic management. By administrating river course/lake and
protecting water resources as its core, MWR will promote systematic management
to address the unclear boundary of river and lake management and protection, as
well as the problems of water shortages and water pollution in lakes and rivers.
• Fully fulfilling the responsibilities of the river chief.
11.4 Discussion
Since the introduction of the river chief system in the early 2000s in some areas
of water pollution, the system has been developed to deal with key water resources
problems each time and has been impacted by the external social and economic
policy. The system has developed through a combination of bottom-up and topdown approaches. The system was originally implemented in economically developed regions with serious water pollution problems, such as the Jiangsu and Zhejiang
provinces, and was also implemented on a county level to deal with river pollution
in urban areas in 2003. In 2008, it was expanded to the Taihu Lake Basin in Wuxi
Prefecture for water pollution control. It was subsequently adopted by Kunming,
Capital of Yunnan Province to deal with the serious pollution of the Dianchi Lake at
the end of 2010. After 2016, it was implemented all over the country by the central
government.
The river chief system is not a single system; rather, it is a system aggregation, covering water resource management, water pollution control, and river course
management, among other areas. In some ways, it is like the strictest water resources
management strategy but with wider coverage. However, it also differs from the
strictest strategy in that the river chief system is required to set up offices, and the
system is written into the revised 2017 Water Pollution Control Law. The system also
places more emphasis on water pollution control. The river chief system was originally tried in regions with critical water pollution. In the early stages, the system was
targeted towards water pollution control, with most river chief offices set up in the