Beijing will soon carry out an overall plan on comprehensive treatment and ecological restoration of the Yongding River, one of the priorities placed in the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin- Heibei region in 2017.
The Yongding River will be revitalized, and its section in Beijing will become an ecological corridor and embrace three ecological nodes with forests and waters and three functional divisions with characteristics.
The Yongding River, dubbed “the Mother River” by Beijing natives, is 740 kilometers in length and is the largest river flowing through Beijing. However,40 years ago, Beijing section of the river has dried up due to environmental issues.
The revitalization of the Yongding River is the first cross-provincial program for river treatment in northern China. The provinces and cities will take five to ten years focusing on restoring the ecosystem of the river falling into four segments.
The river chief system will be rolled out in sections in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shanxi, with local governments held accountable.
It is also essential to secure the ecological water demand of the course in the restoration, during which Beijing will annually pour into the river 75 million cubic meters of reclaimed water for replenishment.
In the future, Beijing section will see three large-scale ecological nodes dotting around the surrounding of the Guanting Reservoir, the new Shougang Group and the airport economic zone of Beijing’s new airport, with their distinctive functions.
Gradually, the Yongding River will have the functions of flood control, water resources storage and purification, local climate regulation, leisure and entertainment.
