Water Trouble in Bozhou: Groundwater Overexploitation Control Problem

　　China News Weekly reporter/Xu Tian

　　Issued in the 983th issue of China News Weekly on February 1, 2021

　　On January 8, 2021, the six governments of Shuozhou in Shanxi, Bozhou in Anhui, Shangqiu in Henan, Yulin in Shaanxi, Changji in Xinjiang, and Yili in Xinjiang, due to the large drop in groundwater level and low rankings in the second and third quarters of 2020. Consulted by the Department of Water Resources Management of the Ministry of Water Resources and the Department of Supervision.

　　Among them, Bozhou is more troubled.

According to the report of the Ministry of Water Resources, Bozhou City ranked first in the country in terms of groundwater level decline in the second and third quarters of last year.

According to data, from May 16 to 17 last year, the depth of groundwater in Bozhou City suddenly dropped by 16.69 meters. This data lasted for more than 100 days. Until August 18 to 19, the depth of ground rebounded sharply, rising by 9.52. Meter.

　　Bozhou is located in the northwest corner of Anhui Province, close to Henan.

Due to the lack of water resources, the mayor’s hotline is always broken during the summer peak period of water use, and citizens report a similar problem: water shortage.

In the past few years, many communities in Bozhou City will stop water, usually only during a fixed period of time in the morning, afternoon and evening.

In the past two years, there have been fewer water cuts, but during non-peak water use periods, the water pressure was insufficient and the water flow was relatively small.

If you go home late, the shower flow will be too small to carry a water heater.

　　Due to serious surface water pollution, similar to many cities in China, Bozhou City has been mining groundwater for many years, and a groundwater funnel has been formed.

In recent years, Bozhou has also tried to control the problem of groundwater over-exploitation, which has struggled between economic development and water resources protection.

Gujing Town, the well gets deeper and deeper

　　The data of Bozhou's groundwater drop rate "No. 1 in the country" comes from 20,469 groundwater monitoring stations jointly built by the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Natural Resources.

　　Relying on the data from these stations, the Ministry of Water Resources will report the year-on-year change in the quarterly average water level to 108 prefecture-level administrative areas with shallow groundwater overexploitation and 37 deep groundwater overexploitation issues from 2020, and report the decline in the reported water level. Large-scale prefecture-level administrative regions adopt methods such as consultation and interview.

　　In 2019, the depth of the groundwater funnel center in Bozhou City was 67.00 meters, which was 2.10 meters lower than the same period in 2018, and in 2018 it was 4.13 meters lower than 2017.

Tao Yuezan, a professor at the School of Civil and Water Conservancy Engineering of Hefei University of Technology, told China News Weekly that in the past ten years, the groundwater level in Bozhou City has dropped by almost two to three meters per year.

　　In Bozhou City, the overexploitation of groundwater in Gujing Town is the most serious.

The pillar industries in Bozhou are wine making and pharmaceuticals.

In the liquor industry, the most famous brand in Bozhou City is Gujing Gongjiu. Gujing Town, where it is located, is full of wineries and wine companies.

　　As of the end of 2018, the output value of liquor in Bozhou city reached 12.4 billion yuan, accounting for 11.5% of the city's total industrial output value; the total tax payment was 2.795 billion yuan, accounting for 15.78% of the city's tax revenue.

At the same time, Bozhou is also one of China's "medicine capitals". At the beginning of last year, the city set a goal of 50 billion yuan in annual output value of the Chinese medicine manufacturing industry.

Whether it is winemaking or pharmaceuticals, both have extremely high requirements for water quality, and the former requires very large water consumption.

　　In recent years, because all the water for production and living comes from groundwater, the water level in Gujing Town has dropped drastically. The wells have been drilled deeper and deeper. Generally, they have reached five or six hundred meters underground before producing water. Some wells have even reached 800 meters underground. Many heads of wine companies also have a sense of crisis.

　　Unlike many cities, the overexploitation of groundwater in Bozhou City is located in deep groundwater.

Tao Yuezan pointed out that in the 1950s, Bozhou City began to mine shallow aquifers ranging from 0 to 50 meters underground. However, due to technical problems in mining, fine sand was always poured into the wells at that time. Residents often need to settle when using it. , Filtering, very troublesome.

The aquifer of 90 to 150 meters further down has the problem of insufficient water.

Therefore, the groundwater wells in Bozhou City have been drilled down to the third pore aquifer of 200 meters to 350 meters. This layer of groundwater has stable water quality and large water output.

　　According to the 2020 Water Resources Bulletin of Bozhou City, the city's total water supply is 1.065 million m3.

Among them, surface water is 341.6 million m3, accounting for 32.1% of the total water supply; shallow groundwater is 510.2 million m3, accounting for 47.9% of the total water supply; medium and deep groundwater is 185 million m3, accounting for 17.4% of the total water supply; others The water supply volume is 28.2 million m3, accounting for 2.6% of the total water supply.

The destiny of deep groundwater is mainly part of industrial and residential water, and part of service industry. The water supply volume is 53 million m3, 111 million m3 and 9 million m3.

　　Under the premise that the surface water is not up to standard, the quality of shallow groundwater is unstable, and there is no replaceable water source, the exploitation of deep groundwater in Bozhou City has become a rigid demand.

"No use" surface water

　　Zhao Dejian, deputy director of the Bozhou Water Resources Bureau, told China News Weekly that the daily water demand in Bozhou's jurisdiction is about 170,000 m3. However, during the peak water consumption period in the past few years, the water available in the urban area was only a little over 100,000 m3.

According to the latest edition of the Water Resources Bulletin of Bozhou City, the city's per capita water resources are 279.1m3, far less than the per capita water resources of Anhui Province of 848.07m3, and lower than the internationally recognized standard for extreme water scarcity (500m3 per capita).

　　Treating surface water and making the Guohe River with an average inflow of 392.2 million m3 become a source of domestic water for residents is the most direct way to deal with the problem of groundwater overexploitation in Bozhou.

However, judging from the governance of the Guohe River in the past 20 years, this road is temporarily unworkable.

Zhao Dejian also bluntly said that groundwater is used precisely because "surface water is not useful".

　　The Guo River is the second largest tributary of the Huai River. It starts in Kaifeng, Henan, flows through many counties in Henan, enters the territory of Anhui Province in Bozhou, and finally merges into the Huai River in Huaiyuan County of Bengbu.

The pollution and treatment of the Guohe River are synchronized with the pollution and treatment of the Huaihe River, which is famous throughout the country.

　　In the early 1980s, Zhao Dejian, who was studying at university, returned to his hometown in Bozhou and would swim and bathe in the Wo River.

By the 1990s, the water in the Wo River became black and smelly.

At that time, with the development of industrial and agricultural production and the acceleration of urbanization, the water quality of the main tributaries of the Huai River was rapidly deteriorating.

In the early 1990s, the water quality of more than half of the 16 main tributaries of the Huai River exceeded the national five-level surface water standard, that is, the water has lost its use value.

　　In 1994, the state proposed the goal of clearing the Huai River water in the 20th century, but the governance effect has been repeated repeatedly.

Zhao Dejian recalled that until a few years ago, the water quality of the Guohe River was basically at Category 5 or worse than Category 5.

The real change has been in recent years. With the advancement of the central environmental protection inspection work and the establishment of an ecological compensation mechanism, efforts to control pollution in the upstream and downstream areas of the Guohe River have been intensified. At present, it can basically reach the standard of four types of water.

　　However, Zhou Biao, head of the Water Resources Management Section of the Bozhou Water Resources Bureau, told China News Weekly that not all sections of the Guohe River have reached Category 4 water. Some parts may be worse than Category 4, and some may also arrive. The water quality is not stable, and there is still a big gap between the water standards of Category 3 and Category 2 drinking water.

According to the relevant regulations of surface water, it can only be used in industry and agriculture.

　　The uncontrollable upstream water pollution incident and the current water quality of the Guohe River does not meet the domestic water standard, so that Bozhou cannot consider substituting surface water for the exploitation of deep groundwater and must find another way out.

Looking for external water sources

　　Bozhou, which has been suffering from local water resources for a long time, finally found a solution-joining the Yangtze River to Huaihuai Project.

　　Water from the Yangtze River is sent all the way north, across the Chaohu and Huaihe Rivers, to improve their water ecological environment and supply water to 12 cities and 46 counties in Anhui, and 2 cities and 9 counties in Henan.

The project of diversion from the Yangtze River to the Huaihe River is divided into three sections from south to north, namely, diversion from the river to the nest, the Jianghuai communication, and the river-to-north transmission.

What Bozhou has joined is the third section, the River Water North Project.

　　If all goes well, after the completion of the project, Bozhou will be able to distribute 438 million m3 of external water each year, which is close to half of the city's current total water supply of 1.065 billion m3.

There are 438 million m3 of water a year, and an average of 1.2 million m3 of external water per day.

　　The relevant person in charge of Gujing Town approached Zhao Dejian, hoping to send some of this water to the water plant in the town.

Zhao Dejian said that after the diversion project from the Yangtze River to the Huaihe River is completed, 50,000 m3 of water will be sent to the water plant in Gujing Town every day. Except for the groundwater that must be used for brewing, all other production and domestic water in Gujing Town will be supplied by this 50,000 m3 of water.

In one year, it will save more than 10 million m3 of local deep groundwater development.

　　Bozhou City has allocated 438 million m3 of water.

In the future, they will be divided into two channels, namely, the two rivers in Bozhou City, the Guohe River and the Xifei River. They will be transported back to Bozhou in the opposite direction of the current flow according to the warning water level changes.

The 438 million m3 of water will be basically evenly divided. According to the difference of water quality, half of the water will be used for industry and agriculture through the Guohe River, and the other half will be used for residents' life and some industries through the Xifei River.

　　It is currently estimated that, except for the brewing industry, which must exploit deep groundwater, other deep groundwater needs can be replaced by the Yangtze River-Jihuai Project.

However, the whole line of the project will be realized in 2023.

For the current Bozhou, the groundwater level drops again and again, and the sooner alternative external water sources are used, the better.

　　In June last year, the South Surface Water Plant in Bozhou City was completed. As the first phase of the Bozhou section of the Yangtze River to the Huaihe River, the water plant has been put into operation.

Although it is not possible to draw the Yangtze River water to Bozhou at present, the Huaihe River passes through the Xifei River first.

Meng Hao, the general dispatcher of the water supply of the water plant, told China News Weekly that in August 2020, the water plant began to supply water.

At the beginning, the daily water supply was 20,000 m3, and then gradually increased every month. The current daily water supply is about 100,000 m3, accounting for nearly 60% of the city’s daily water supply of approximately 170,000 m3.

　　The current daily water supply has alleviated the overexploitation of groundwater in Bozhou to a certain extent.

According to the data collected by the hydrological and geological departments of Bozhou City after manual measurement and mutual comparison, as of January 18, 2021, the water level at the monitoring point in Bozhou City was 72.07 meters, an increase of 1.25 meters over the same period last year, and it was received on August 25. The Ministry of Water Resources reported that the water level rose 3.4 meters that day.

　　The supply side of water resources has improved, but it is not a day's work to change the thinking on water demand.

A few years ago, Bozhou City introduced a major project, a certain brewery landed in Bozhou.

Before the project was introduced, the Municipal Water Resources Bureau had no knowledge.

After the project was launched, the brewery found that the water resources of Bozhou were in short supply, and the groundwater used to brew liquor would taste strange if brewing beer. On the other hand, the water conservancy department also had many requirements for their water and sewage treatment. Can only go bankrupt.

　　Ma Yong, deputy secretary general of the China Foundation for Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development, pointed out in an interview with China News Weekly that many cities in China still lack the thinking of “determining production by water”.

"The total amount of water is determined. How many industries can it accommodate? What kind of industries are suitable for development here? Planning in this area is very lacking." He pointed out that the more common idea of ​​attracting investment in many places is geographical location. Do not take advantage, in order to develop, whatever industry can be attracted, it is difficult to control water use.

　　Zhao Dejian said that the idea of ​​fixing water production has gradually been emphasized over the years, and Bozhou City is also implementing a water quota system.

Li Songhu, an engineer of the Water Resources Management Section of the Bozhou Water Resources Bureau, told China News Weekly that users who have obtained water extraction permits will submit their water use situation this year and the water extraction plan for the following year to the Municipal Water Resources Bureau for approval before the end of December each year.

The permitted amount of water withdrawal is the red line, which is determined according to different industries and different scales. Once the red line is exceeded, it must be rectified within a time limit, and a three-level cumulative price increase system shall be implemented.

If it exceeds the red line within 20%, the water price doubles; if it exceeds the red line 20% to 50%, pay twice the water price; if it exceeds the red line by more than 50%, pay three times the water price.

Water transfer across river basins requires caution

　　Ma Yong believes that in addition to setting water production and water quotas, Bozhou should also make efforts in the use of water resources.

Taking the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region with serious groundwater overexploitation, in 2018, the utilization rate of recycled water in Beijing was 27.35%; in 2020, the utilization rate of recycled water in Tianjin reached more than 40%; Hebei also proposed in 2020 that key river basins will be involved by the end of the year. The utilization rate of recycled water in cities and counties has reached the target of over 30%.

　　In Bozhou, the target for the reuse of recycled water in the future is 20%.

Zhao Dejian pointed out that the industrial characteristics of Bozhou City are very distinct. Liquor and pharmaceutical companies are high water but not high water consumption companies.

Unlike some prefectures and cities, Bozhou has large-scale thermal power plants. Therefore, the expansion of the use of reclaimed water has indeed been considered in recent years.

At present, Bozhou is laying the relevant pipe network connecting the reclaimed water plant, which can be applied to thermal power, textile and other industries.

　　But overall, water transfer is still an important idea for China's current control of groundwater overexploitation. On the one hand, it can replace groundwater in overexploited areas, and on the other hand, it can also replenish groundwater.

The relevant departments of the Ministry of Water Resources told China News Weekly that the current total amount of groundwater extraction nationwide is 93.42 billion m3, accounting for 15.5% of the total water supply in the country.

There are 21 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) across the country that have varying degrees of groundwater overexploitation. Among them, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is the most serious.

Over the years, 5.6 billion m3 of water has been supplied to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region through the water supply from the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and the first phase of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.

　　However, some experts are cautious about water transfer across river basins.

A retired unnamed person from the Anhui Provincial Department of Water Resources told China News Weekly that caution should be exercised when transferring water across river basins.

She believes that the water transfer project has provided more water supply and eased water stress, but it also appears that water saving is not so important. The increase in water consumption has rebounded, which indirectly increased the amount of sewage.

Nature’s ability to purify itself is limited. Excessive sewage will eventually pollute the local surface water and groundwater, causing new ecological problems.

　　Chen Jian, director of the Groundwater Environmental Protection Research Office of the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, told China News Weekly that the water transfer to replenish groundwater should indeed be scientifically evaluated and treated with caution.

His reason is that, compared with groundwater, surface water has a larger environmental capacity and stronger self-purification ability. Therefore, the state has relatively stricter groundwater environmental supervision.

Surface water and groundwater have different regulatory goals, and there are differences in pollutants and regulatory requirements.

Therefore, the risk of adjusting surface water to recharge groundwater requires scientific assessment, and the suitability of recharge should be based on data.

It is understood that relevant research work is underway.

　　The above-mentioned anonymous expert from the Anhui Provincial Water Resources Department also pointed out that while addressing the problem of groundwater over-exploitation, China should reflect on its understanding of the safe amount of groundwater extraction.

Anhui Province has done research on the amount of groundwater resources in the Huaibei region, including Bozhou. The research team realized at that time that the amount of groundwater that can be extracted and the amount of groundwater that can be safely extracted are two completely different concepts.

According to the calculation method at that time, it is concluded that there are more than 7 billion m3 of groundwater resources in Huaibei area, with more than 6 billion m3 available for use and more than 5 billion m3 exploitable.

But when the Huaibei area was mined to about 800 million m3, land subsidence occurred.

It can be seen that the safe extraction of groundwater should be less than 800 million m3, which is estimated to be 6% to 8% of the water resources.

She believes that if water resources problems in various parts of China are used to infer the amount of safe extraction, it is basically this number, which is much lower than the amount that can be extracted.

　　In response to an interview with China News Weekly, the Ministry of Water Resources stated that the Ministry of Water Resources plans to organize a new round of groundwater over-exploitation area evaluation across the country in 2021.

In addition, while doing a good job in comprehensive management of groundwater overexploitation in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Ministry of Water Resources also organized the compilation of plans for groundwater overexploitation control and protection in 9 key areas, including the Sanjiang Plain, the Huanghuai area, and the southern and northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains. Adopt governance.

　　The aforementioned experts pointed out that it will take at least 20 to 30 years to gradually restore the original ecological condition under the current situation that the groundwater overexploitation funnel in China still exists.

During this period, it is necessary to strengthen supervision and proceed cautiously.

　　China News Weekly, Issue 5, 2021

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