The capital of east China's Shandong Province is striving to maintain its status as the "city of springs" with upgraded regulation to better protect its water resources.

The famous Jinan springs will be more effectively protected with the upcoming regulation, said sources with the Jinan Famous Springs Protection and Management Office.

"The regulation is to mobilize all circles of society to protect the city's springs, because spring waters are the soul of Jinan," Li Shixin, director of the office, told China Daily in a telephone interview.

Li said protecting the springs through a legal framework will be a systemic project connecting departments of forestation, water resources, agriculture, environmental protection, city planning, mining, gardens and parks and city water supply.

"It will be illegal if one does anything against the regulation," Li continued. "So far the local regulation has received wide support from all circles of society."

The regulation has been updated on the basis of the first one launched in June 1997, which was the first and only local regulation for spring protection in China. The updated regulation will be put into practice in the first half of next year.

In the new version, spring resources protection is emphasized.

Meanwhile, the recycling of gushing spring water has also been listed in the regulation.

Spring resources include spring water supply areas, spring brooks, rainfall confluences and water flowing pathways.

The regulation says that all new construction projects within the areas have to seek the assistance of experts from relevant authorities in feasibility studies, and projects with deep groundwork that might block spring water flows will be absolutely turned down.

The regulation stipulates that from 7 AM to 7 PM, there can be no water collection, and swimming and washing are allowed only in public spring water ponds and canals. Discharge of any polluted water, garbage or any other pollutants into springs is forbidden.

Some spring-damaging behaviors will be fined from 20 yuan (US$2.4) to as high as 50,000 yuan (US$6,000).

From next year, September will be Jinan's Famous Springs Protection Month. During the period, spring protection activities will be held to improve citizens' knowledge about their city's water resources.

Jinan has long been known as "the city of springs" for its numerous springs. Statistics show that there are more than 733 springs in Jinan and its surrounding areas, 136 of them in the city proper.

In the last couple of years, springs in Jinan stopped gushing from time to time due to dry weather, years of disrepair and excessive ground water exploitation.

In recent years, the local government has made great efforts to keep the springs flowing by setting up large reservoirs to augment the city's water supplies, closing home wells and increasing water fees.

(China Daily December 21, 2004)