Wetland pumped with water as part of restoration

Northern China's largest freshwater wetland has received more than 10 million cubic meters of water from reservoirs since April 5, as part of long-term water compensation measures to restore its ecological environment.

A man skims garbage off the water at Baiyangdian in Hebei province, April 6, 2016. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/chinadaily.com.cn]

The supplement will last about two months to bring about 33 million cubic meters of water into the wetland in Anxin county, Gao Kejun, deputy head of the county's Bureau of Water Resources, said in an interview with Hebei Daily.

The wetland is located within the recently proposed Xiongan New Area, which is of national significance, according to the central government.

When the proposal to set up Xiongan New Area was announced earlier this month, the central government said one of the major tasks was to create a city with a scenic ecological environment, blue skies, fresh air and clean water.

"To complete the task, we must restore the water environment of Baiyangdian which has the ecological functions of regulating climate and maintaining ecological balance," Gao was quoted as saying.

Gao said that due to years of dry climate with little rainfall, Baiyangdian has frequently suffered from a water shortage.

"Thus, bringing in water from outside areas has been very important for it."

The wetland has been topped up with water 32 times since 1996.

At present, a project to draw water from the Yellow River -China's second-longest river- to feed Baiyangdian is under construction.

When completed, the project can provide Baiyangdian with 110 million cubic meters of water each year, Gao said.

As well as supplying more water, the restoration of the wetland includes controlling water pollution, which is also underway.

According to Liu Lixin, deputy head of the county's Bureau of Aquaculture and Animal Husbandry, the county is in the fifth phase of eliminating fish net cages which pollute the water with fish feces and leftover bait.

"All the net cages will finally be removed," Liu said.

Contact the writer at: zhangyu1@chinadaily.com.cn