Yunnan's water resources under full protection

As a water-rich province, Yunnan is famous for its nine plateau lakes, including the Fuxian lake, which is the largest deep-water freshwater lake among China's inland lakes in terms of water storage. However, the nine plateau lakes once faced many conservation problems these years. On the occasion of the World Water Day, let's have a review of Yunnan's effrots in protecting these nine plateau lakes over the years.

1. Dianchi

The Dianchi lake, also known as the "Kunming lake", is the largest lake in southwest China. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, in order to restore and enhance the ecological wetland function of the lakeshore, Kunming government implemented many projects to improve the pollution interception and emission reduction capacity of Dianchi and perfect its supervision and management mechanism.

The water quality of Dianchi has improved from poor Class V to IV, achieving the best water quality in the past 30 years. Meanwhile, 2,442 mu (1,628,000 m2) of ecological wetlands in the Caohai area and 3,656 mu (2,437,333 m2) of wetlands outside Dianchi were built and upgraded respectively, which accelerated the recovery of lakeside biodiversity around Dianchi.

2.Erhai

Erhai is the second largest freshwater lake in Yunnan Province and one of the most famous resorts in Yunnan Province. To protect the Erhai lake, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture systematically implemented the Erhai lake protection project during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, while invested 33 billion yuan in the protection and treatment of the Erhai lake.

The actions above enabled the water quality of the Erhai lake to be maintained at a stable level of Class III, with an overall evaluation of good lakes. In 2020, the water quality of the Erhai lake was stable and good, and its evaluation of the national examination section is excellent.

3. Fuxian Lake

Fuxian is the largest water storage lake and the largest plateau deep water lake in China. "During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Yuxi city has established a unified management system for the Fuxian lake and implemented the relevant protection regulations, which has enabled the overall water quality of the Fuxian lake to remain at the Class I level.

4. Xingyun Lake

Xingyun is a trophic lake, and it is also an early lake in Yunnan Province where fish are bred and stocked by professional departments. For the protection and management of the Xingyun lake, The host city of Yuxi carries out ecological planting along the lake, farming pollution load reduction and other projects, which has rid the lake of poor water quality.