1. Water Environment

The quality of the water environment remained basically stable, with certain watersheds realizing notable improvements. However, water pollution and water-resource shortages in some watersheds were significant. Rivers flowing through urban areas were often contaminated by organic pollutants. Certain lakes were so badly polluted that eutrophication has resulted.

Water Quality of Major Rivers

Most of the Province's main rivers suffered from organic pollution, and particularly those flowing through or nearby urban areas. Among the six larger river systems, the pollution level of the Pearl River was the highest and Irrawaddy the lowest.

Among the sections of the Major Rivers which were monitored, 52.7% met or were below the water quality standards, (GB3838-2002), for Grade Ⅰ -Ⅲ. 26.7% were polluted and degraded to Grade Ⅳ or Ⅴ, and 20.6% were severely polluted and worse than Grade Ⅴ.

56.7% of the monitored sections met the required standards for water usage. The major pollutants found were TP, volatile phenol, ammonia nitrogen, BOD and permanganate.

Jinshajiang River System

The water quality of Jinshajiang River was largely good, although the midstream was polluted and the lower stream severely so. 42.1% of the monitored sections met Grade Ⅰ -Ⅲ standards, 26.3% met Grade Ⅳ or Ⅴ, and 26.3% were below Grade Ⅴ. 52.6% of the sections monitored met the required standards for water usage. The major contaminants were TP, TN and BOD. The tributaries, which were severely polluted, were the Chaihe, Xinhe, Tuweihe and Panlongjiang Rivers .

Pearl River System

The Pearl River was severely polluted. Among the monitored sections, 34.5% met Grade Ⅰ -Ⅲ standards, 24.1% met Grade Ⅳ or Ⅴ, and 41.4% were below Grade Ⅴ. 37.9% of the sections met the required standards for water usage. The major contaminants were volatile phenol, TP and ammonia nitrogen. The tributaries, which were severely polluted, were the Lujiang, Beipanjiang and Qujiang River .

Honghe River System

The Honghe River was fairly polluted. Among the monitored sections, 61.5% met Grade Ⅰ -Ⅲ standards, 23.1% met Grade Ⅳ or Ⅴ , and 15.4% were below Grade Ⅴ. 73.1% of the sections met the requirements for water usage. The major contaminants were lead and permanganate. The tributaries, which were severely polluted, were the Sanjiahe and Xiaohedi Rivers .

Lancangjiang River System

The Lancangjiang River was slightly polluted. Among the monitored sections, 61.1% met Grade Ⅰ -Ⅲ, 27.8% met Grade Ⅳ or Ⅴ, and 11.1% were below Grade Ⅴ. 52.8% of the sections can meet the required standards for water usage. The major contaminants were BOD. The tributary, which was severely polluted, is the Luozhahe River .

Nujiang River System

The Nujiang River was slightly polluted. Among the sections monitored, 54.5% met Grade Ⅰ -Ⅲ, 36.4% met Grade Ⅳ or Ⅴ, and 9.1% were below Grade Ⅴ. 63.6% of the sections met the required standards for water usage. The major contaminants were permanganate and TP.

Irrawaddy River System

The water quality of Irrawaddy River was good, although a few of the tributaries were slightly polluted. Among the monitored sections, 90.0% met Grade Ⅰ -Ⅲ, 10.0% met Grade Ⅳ or Ⅴ . 90.0% of the sections met the required standards for water usage. The major pollutants were BOD and permanganate.

According to the relative severity of pollution, the large six river systems were therefore ranked as follows: the Pearl River, Jinshajiang River, Lancangjiang River, Honghe River, Nujiang River and Irrawaddy River. Compared with the previous year, the number of monitored sections, which met Grade Ⅰ -Ⅲ, increased by 9.4%, and Grade Ⅳ or Ⅴ sections increased by 3.4%, and the sections below Grade Ⅴ decreased by 12.8%. Those sections which met the standards for the environmental function of runoffs increased by 5.0%.

Water Quality of Main Lakes

The lakes were largely contaminated by organic pollutants; some suffered particularly from eutrophication. Among the 22 main lakes and water basins, 9.1% met the water quality standard for Grade Ⅰ, 18.2% met Grade Ⅱ, 27.3% met Grade Ⅲ, 9.1% met Grade Ⅳ and 36.3% were severely polluted and degraded below Grade Ⅴ. In generally, the clean and the comparatively clean lakes (Grade Ⅰ -Ⅲ) accounted for 54.6%; the polluted lakes (Grade Ⅳ) accounted for 9.1%; the seriously polluted lakes accounted for 36.3%. 40.9% of lakes met the required standards to serve their environmental function.

Among the 20 major lakes, 45.0% were in various states of eutrophication, among which Waihai and Caohai of Lake Dianchi were moderately and heavily euttrophicated, respectively.

The main pollutants found in Yunnan 's lakes were TP, TN, BOD and ammonia nitrogen.

Compared with the twenty lakes monitored over the previous year, the water quality of the majority of the major lakes remained stable and the rate of standard-compliance of the water environmental functions increased. The number of the major lakes, which met Grade Ⅰ -Ⅲ, remained the same at 50.0%, but the number of major lakes that met Grade Ⅳ and Grade Ⅴ degraded from 20.0% to 10.0%, and those below Grade Ⅴ increased from 30.0% to 40.0%. 65% of the lakes maintained stable water quality. The standard-compliant rate for water function standards increased from 25.0% to 40.0%.

Nine Larger Plateau Lakes

Those lakes, which can be classified as clean and comparatively clean, included 50.0% of all lakes, with the other 50.0% being severely polluted. Lake Fuxian and Lugu met Grade Ⅰ and the water quality of both lakes were excellent; Lake Yangzonghai and Chenghai met Grade Ⅱ with very good water quality. Lake Erhai at Grade Ⅲ had acceptable quality. The outer (Wai Hai) and inner (Cao Hai) sections of Lake Dianchi, Lake Xingyun and Qilu and Yilong were severely polluted and below Grade Ⅴ. If the Lake Dianchi was not evaluated as two separate parts but as a single lake, those lakes, which can be classified as clean and comparatively clean, included 55.0% of all lakes, with the other 45.0% being severely polluted. The standard-compliant rate of water functions of the Nine Larger Plateau Lakes was 40.0%. The major pollutants were TP and TN.

Compared with the previous year, the water quality of Lake Fuxian improved from Grade Ⅱ to Grade Ⅰ ; that of Lake Chenghai improved from Grade Ⅲ to Grade Ⅱ, and that of the outer sections of Lake Dianchi, Lake Xingyun and Lake Yilong deteriorated from Grade Ⅳ to below Grade Ⅴ .

Lake Dianchi

The water quality of inner section of Lake Dianchi (Cao Hai) was below Grade Ⅴ . Its main pollutants, including TP, TN, ammonia nitrogen, BOD, was above Grade Ⅴ with permanganate index meeting Grade Ⅳ. The water quality of the outer section of Lake Dianchi (Wai Hai) deteriorated to below Grade Ⅴ. The index of its contaminants, was as follows: TN was above Grade Ⅴ , TP met Grade Ⅴ , and BOD met Grade Ⅳ .

Compared with the previous year, the water quality levels of Cao Hai remained the same, while the grade of Waihai deteriorated from Grade Ⅴ to below Grade Ⅴ. The annual average of incidence of COD_Mn , which was the main pollutant of Cao Hai, decreased by 14.7%, and the annual average quantities of other pollutants made no significant change. As for Wai Hai, its TN, which was the major factor affecting its water quality, degraded from Grade Ⅴ to below Grade Ⅴ, and increased by 9.0% compared with the previous year. Other factors made no significant change.

The Major Pollutants of Lake Dianchi in 2003

Groundwater's Quality

The data of 974 monitoring sites, distributed across 7 prefectures of the province, showed that the quality of most of interstitial water still remained bad. During the dry season, 10.9% remained excellent and 31.03% remained very good and 58.03% remained poor, with wide distribution of pollution. All pollutants, namely nitrite nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, iron, manganese, caliform group bacteria, all varieties of bacteria, commonly existed above acceptable levels. The quality of interstitial water around basin rims, which was non-polluted, was comparatively good. Generally, ground water quality in the wet season is better than in dry season. The interstitial water and karst water, was mainly very good except that of a few of sections which were polluted. Moreover, the distribution of the pollution was somewhat spotted and in each case relatively isolated. However, the change in water quality between the seasons was not particularly significant. The quality of geothermal water experienced no major change compared with the previous year, of which the chemical components were more complicated than the interstitial water and karst water. After monitoring, the concentration of ammonia nitrate, fluorides and iron in geothermal water was slightly above required minimum standards.

Changes in Discharge of Sewage and Major Pollutants

The total amount of sewage discharge in the whole province reached 681.808 million tons, which represents an increase of 2.9% on that of the previous year. COD in the sewage was 0.2852 million tons and ammonia nitrate was 17,700 tons, which respectively decreased by 5.2% and 2.2% compared with the previous year. The amount of industrial sewage was 346.548 million tons, or 50.8% of the total amount of sewage, representing an increase of 2.8% on that of the previous year. Of the sewage, COD was 92,800 tons, ammonia nitrogen was 2,610.26 tons and other pollutants were 361.35 tons, which respectively decreased by 22.8%, 16.0% and 31.1% compared with the previous year. The main sectors responsible for industrial sewage discharge were agro-product processing, chemicals, paper-making, metallurgy, mining and ore-dressing. The principle locations of industrial sewage discharge included Kunming City, Honghe Prefecture and Qujing City. The main river basins of industrial sewage discharge were those of the Pearl , Jinshajiang and Lancangjiang river systems.

Measures and Actions

Pollution Treatment and Its Investment for the Nine Large Plateau Lakes

On 12 March 2003 , the State Council endorsed the Tenth Five Year Plan for Pollution Treatment and Prevention in Lake Dianchi . By the end of 2003, 15 engineering and research projects had started (or 57.7% of a total 26 projects planned by the Plan), and 11 projects covering 43.3%, began preparatory work. 147 projects were planned by the Contract on Target Responsibility System for Environmental Protection (2003-2005), relating to Lakes Erhai, Fuxian, Xingyun, Qilu, Yangzonghai, Yilong, Chenghai and Lugu. Among these, 6 had been completed, covering 4.1% of the total, and 64 were commenced covering 43.5%. A further 77 begun preparatory work, covering 52.4%.

In 2003 investments into pollution treatment of the nine large plateau lakes reached 557 million Yuan, of which 104 million Yuan was allocated for Lake Dianchi. The total investment to date into pollution treatment and prevention of Nine Larger Plateau Lakes was 4,865 million Yuan, of which 3,536 million Yuan was for Lake Dianchi .

Industrial Sewage Treatment

By the end of 2003, a total of 1,707 sewage treatment facilities were established in Yunnan , with a total treatment capacity of 4.6281 million tons/day. The rate of water reuse for industrial production from these facilities was 81.0%. 142.761 million Yuan in total were invested in 149 sewage treatment projects, among which 108 were completed. The treatment capacity of industrial sewage treatment increased by 0.1519 million tons/day.

Restoration of Jinshajiang River Basin

In accordance with the Planning into Pollution Treatment and Prevention of the Three Gorge Reservoir and Its Upstream Areas, 45 projects related to Yunnan province. 19 were under construction, of which 7 were being constructed for sewage treatment and twelve for solid waste treatment. 6 were in the initial design stage and twenty were in the phase of feasibility study. In 2003, 9 new projects were launched.