Yuxi to shield Fuxian Lake by creating wetland area
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E-mail China Daily, September 30, 2013
Yuxi in Yunnan province plans to invest 10.5 billion yuan ($1.69 billion) over the next three years to create a vast wetland area surrounding Fuxian Lake, one of China's biggest freshwater lakes, to better protect the natural water source, a senior local official said.
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Tourists take a boat trip on Fuxian Lake. Yuxi plans to create a wetland area surrounding the lake. |
Fuxian Lake, on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, covers 216 square kilometers. At its deepest, it measures 157 meters, and it accounts for 9.2 percent of China's freshwater lake water.
The lake boasts a rich though fragile ecosystem. In recent years, it has come under threat from over-fishing and pollution from tourism facilities along its shores. Authorities have an ongoing policy of closing sources of pollution and cleaning the lake. The planned wetland area is the latest move in this policy.
In a recent interview with China Daily, Rao Nanhu, mayor of Yuxi, said measures will be taken to safeguard Fuxian Lake and two other plateau lakes and that the planned wetland area is one of the key elements of the strategy.
The plan involves establishing more than 1,600 hectares of wetland around the lake over three years, said Chen Yong, vice-mayor of Yuxi, which has the third largest economy in Yunnan province.
Motor-powered boats are prohibited to run on the lake and all the mines near the lake have already been closed down, said Rao. "The fact is that we have 180,000 residents currently living around the lake and 20,000 within 100 meters of the water. According to our survey, most of the pollution came from those families," she said.
Farming contributes about 70 percent of the pollution discharged into the lake, Chen said. He also said 13 of the 16 rivers that flow into the lake have been polluted by factory waste and sewage upstream.
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