A river that has been dry for the past two decades will flow once more in the coming days, thanks to an ambitious environmental project.

Yongding River, historically the biggest to flow through the capital, is slated to be brought back to life by filling water into Wanping Lake, one of four lakes along its course. The lake's bed has recently been reconstructed so it can hold water more efficiently and it is now being refilled.

The lake should be full before the coming Mid-Autumn Festival.

Zhang Minqiu, an engineer with the Beijing Institute of Water and the designer of the project, told METRO the four lakes and a circulation line connecting them are the first phase of the overall restoration.

Yongding River, which flows through five provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, spans 170 km within Beijing and runs through five districts in the west and south of the city.

According to Zhang, the river has been almost completely dry since 1992 and the ecological systems on either side of it have been damaged.

The municipal government has invested 1.4 billion yuan on the first phase of restoring the river and the riverside ecology. The initial phase lasted for one year and involved 14.2 km of the river course. The entire project will last five years.

"More than 98 percent of the water used to restore the river is reclaimed water from five sewage treatment plants in Beijing; other sources include rainwater and water from the Guanting Reservoir," said Zhang.

One of the most difficult aspects of the project has been the coordination of the many different organizations involved, Zhang said, including water authorities, the governments of five districts, the development and reform commission and other institutions.

"All participants are under huge pressure," he said. "It's the first time we have tried to complete such a major project connected to such a big river course."

He added that Wanping Lake was initially set to be closed for 90 days but that plan was changed and access was granted earlier so people could visit it during Mid-Autumn Festival because seeing the moon reflected on the lake is said to be one of Beijing's eight famous scenes - a scene that has not been witnessed for 20 years.

Cai Yong, head of the Yongding River Management Office in Fengtai district, told METRO great attention was being paid to Wanping and Xiaoyue lakes.

"Our next step will be the greening of the river banks."

Wanping Lake, which covers a total area of 69 hectares, is set to get 12 hectares of new green space, according to Cai.

China Daily

(China Daily 09/20/2010)