Volunteers publicize the information on the river chief system in Yuanling county, Hunan province, to increase the environmental awareness of the public.

The water of the Shuifu Temple reservoir shimmers in the autumn as fish swim near the surface and white herons fly overhead, a poetic scene of the Jiangnan region, south of the Yangtze River.

Covering an area of 50.5 square kilometers, the Shuifu Temple reservoir offers a drinking water resource for Xiangxiang and Loudi cities in Central China's Hunan province and irrigates the vast farmland in Shaoshan.

Xiangxiang has shown determination and courage by establishing the working committee of the river chief system, a network of leading officials responsible for overseeing the conditions of specific bodies of water. They have launched several campaigns against illegal fishing, aquaculture pollution and chemical wastewater that have damaged the ecological environment of the Shuifu Temple water area.

Local officials have also cleared 43,000 fish cages, closed down 10 sand-mining sites and 14 sand mining ships, dismantled 369 illegal fishing weirs and closed 106 illegal low embankments.

Xiangxiang, Louxing district and Shuangfeng county of Loudi city, have broken through administrative and regional barriers and established a cross-regional prevention, control and governance mechanism for the Shuifu Temple reservoir.

To date, the water quality in the reservoir has been upgraded from Grade IV to Grade II. The Shuifu Temple National Wetland Park has recorded 125 species of birds, including 15 species of birds under national protection such as black storks, white egrets and swans, forming a unique ecological landscape.

In Yuanling county, the Xuefeng Mountain and Wuling Mountain intersect with the Yuanjiang and Youshui rivers flowing through it. With 911 streams and rivers crisscrossing the area, the water resources are abundant.

To protect the pristine waters, Yuanling has been carrying out continuous actions to control water, pollution, banks and mountains.

The local government has implemented a comprehensive ban on sand mining, shifted fish farming from cages to land, and banned fishing.

With a vast territory and a large population, Yuanling has mobilized the public to participate in the management and protection of rivers and lakes, recruiting more than 230 young volunteers known as river guardians who regularly patrol the rivers and clean the beaches. Since the beginning of this year, they have organized 168 river cleanups.

Currently, Yuanling has built a river governance framework and appointed 645 river chiefs, 402 river patrol officers and 18 river prosecutors. The county, townships and villages conduct an average of 28,000 river patrols per year and solve more than 400 problems annually.

The ecological management of the Shuifu Temple reservoir and the river chief system in Yuanling are epitomes of Hunan's efforts to protect its waters. The province has established 140 action centers at provincial, city and county levels, recruiting over 23,600 river guardian volunteers.

wangjinhui@chinadaily.com.cn