China will have local government heads appointed as river chiefs across the country to help protect and clean up the water resources. This was according to the guidelines published by Chinese central authorities on Sunday.
"Much as mayors and county heads are responsible for their beats, river chiefs will be responsible for the management and protection of the watercourses," document forwarded by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council stated.
"The central government expects to turn such practice into a nationwide mechanism by the end of 2018," said the document.
It can be recalled that China initially appointed local government officials as river chiefs in year 2007 in order to address pollution of blue algae in Taihu Lake, Jiangsu Province.
The said practice was then adopted in several regions rich in water resources to protect them and enhance coordination of environmental policies.
"Government officials will be hired as river chiefs at provincial, city, county and township levels, and heads of provincial regions will be general chiefs that are responsible for all rivers and lakes in the region," according to the document.
For large rivers and lakes that span across regions, river chiefs will be responsible for different parts of the water bodies and cooperate on management.
"Responsibilities of the river chiefs include water resource protection, pollution prevention and control, and ecological restoration. Their job performance will be assessed and they will be held accountable if environmental damage occurs in the water bodies they take charge of," said the document.
"Information including names and responsibilities of the river chiefs will be made public to ensure public supervision," it said.
