China issues three-year plan to survey and protect its springs

(ECNS) - China's Ministry of Water Resources has just issued a three-year plan to build a nationwide system for surveying, monitoring and evaluating springs, part of a wider effort to strengthen groundwater protection and management.

The 2026-2028 program follows the country's first nationwide spring survey, completed in 2025, and aims to create a national database and digital mapping system covering springs across all 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Under the plan, authorities will compile a catalog of major springs, map the geographic extent of key spring systems and expand monitoring networks, according to the ministry.

The initiative will also help local governments draw up tailored protection plans for individual springs and make wider use of digital tools in groundwater management.

By 2028, the ministry aims to make spring monitoring and evaluation more routine, standardized and data-driven.

Officials said the effort is meant to support the enforcement of China's Groundwater Management Regulations and deepen understanding of the country's groundwater resources through a single national information system.

(By Zhang Jiahao)