Environmental Mismanagement Killing Baiyangdian Wetlands

By staff reporters Lou Yi, Dai Wei and Su Dandan

-faced at the lake that has been his family’s lifeline for generations. “Baiyangdian is dead,” he declared, eyeing the black, fetid water below.

Baiyangdian, a wetland area in central Hebei near the sprawling metropolis of Baoding, is the largest freshwater lake in Northern China. The 366 sq. km. marshland, whose name means, “white ocean of lakes,” was once a pristine marshland of calm, clear streams teeming with aquatic life. But since the 1980s, regional drought, diversion of feeder rivers and streams, reservoir construction and sprawling industrialization have combined to contaminate the area. Over the last 50 years, the wetland area has shrunk by more than a third.

The latest pollution wave hit early this year. Authorities have not released specific statistics for total acreage of wetlands affected, the extent of the contamination or the volume of fish lost as a result. But scores of dead fish could be seen floating at the surface in late March, when reporters visited the region. All 15 fishermen in the village of Dazhang said the contamination had affected their livelihoods. “I started out with 2,250 kilograms of fish,” villager Liu Maizi told reporters. “Only 1,000 are left.”

The deputy director of the Baoding Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, Wei Fengzhi, blamed four factors for widespread fish loss: the wetland area’s deteriorating ecosystem; industrial wastewater and domestic sewage pollution; ice thaws that have reduced hydrogen levels in the water; and overfishing in some parts of the area.

The Hebei provincial government has responded promptly, sacking four local officials it claims were responsible for the pollution. Production has been halted or reduced at 142 polluting factories, and 9600 cubic meters of water from two local reservoirs channelled into Baiyangdian. Local reporters told that such action is unprecedented in Baoding and demonstrates the local government’s commitment to curb pollution and save Baiyangdian. But the situation may be far more complicated than it would seem.

As one local fisherman explained, “Those measures – diverting water supply, sacking officials and stopping production – they’ve all been taken before. But the water only gets dirtier, and more and more fish die,” he said.

Experts agree that the problem lies in lack of a natural water source to replenish Baiyangdian as it dries up. Nine rivers once fed the area, but one by one have been contaminated or run dry. The one remaining source, Fuhe River, is itself suffering from upstream diversion and an increase in industrial and domestic pollutants. Baoding environmental protection officials told that the city produces 250,000 tons of wastewater every day, 80 percent of which is dumped into the Fuhe.

Local environmental regulations require adequate treatment of wastewater before it is discharged into the river, but Baoding’s daily treatment capacity of 160,000 tons falls far short of the current demand, not to mention future needs in a growing city of 10 million people. Even if that capacity were increased, the pipeline network used to transport sewage and polluted water is also inadequate, with much of the wastewater flowing directly into rivers without any treatment.

has also verified that the local government’s solution to diluting the pollution – channelling water from upstream to replenish Baiyangdian – may in fact be worsening the situation, with water diverted from upstream reservoirs actually bringing new pollution with it. Several fishermen said local manufacturers have discharged large amounts of pollutants in deep ditches along the edges of the now-dry waterways. When new water was diverted to Baiyangdian, those previously dry areas were now submerged, spreading their pollutants throughout the lake and killing more fish.

Local officials had suggested changing the route of the water diversion to circumvent the polluted area, but provincial water management authorities said it would take too long for the new water to reach Baiyangdian, and too much volume would be lost due to natural evaporation.

A tourism boom has aggravated the situation, with entrepreneurs constructing illegal buildings in the wetland area. “Construction has segmented Baiyangdian and affected its ability to clean itself,” said one environmental expert who asked not to be named.

Analysts say that to save Baiyangdian, local policymakers need to reassess the priority they have given to economic development and strengthen anti-pollution measures. Only one area in Baoding, Anxin County, has a wastewater treatment center. A second proposed facility in Gaoyang County has yet to break ground. And analysts say that even if enough facilities can be built to meet environmental demand, they are not cost-effective in the long term. Many domestic enterprises choose not to treat waste but pay the minimal fines required by law, rather than shoulder the significantly higher cost of building and maintaining a waste treatment plant.

And conflicts of interest hinder efforts to collect even these minimal fines. Local government officials must approve any disciplinary action against businesses also contribute significantly to local tax revenues, and many local government officials would rather not see them punished.

One legal expert at Wuhan University, Lu Zhongmei, said a lack of coordination between various government agencies in managing Baiyangdian has made a critical problem even worse. She proposed establishing a cross-regional oversight committee to protect the area.

The Hebei provincial government also promised last year to invest more resources in Baiyangdian’s revitalization. A new blueprint suggests that it will invest 8.05 billion yuan (US＄1 billion) over ten years to substantially improve the area’s ecosystem, launching 28 projects in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). ADB will provide a US＄96 million loan, and the Global Environment Facility will donate US＄3.5 million.

But contrary to appearances, that funding has not yet been finalized. The Hebei provincial government and the ADB have signed a memorandum of understanding, but as of yet have taken no further steps. ADB experts are waiting to complete a feasibility assessment before deciding whether or not to invest in Baiyangdian’s survival.

Staff reporter Wang Heyan contributed to the story
English version by Xin Zhiming and Lauren Keane