Beijing will appoint an additional 12 municipal river chiefs, all from the municipal Party committee and government. According to the action plan released by Beijing Water Authority on June 28, a number of 5,920 government officials will be hired as river chiefs at city, district, county and township levels by the end of this year. The new appointees will ensure that at least 77 percent of major reservoirs, rivers and lakes will have up-to-standard water quality by the end of 2020.

The river chiefs will oversee 88 reservoirs, 41 lakes, 425 rivers with drainage areas over 10 square kilometers, as well as their branches, ditches and dams. Heads of municipal and district Party committee and government will be general chiefs that are responsible for all rivers and lakes in the region, and the deputy river chief positions will be filled by the officials from the water authority and other related officials in municipal and district Party committee.

River chiefs will be responsible for the management and protection of the watercourses. Their responsibilities include four main aspects: first, water pollution prevention and control; second, water environment management; third, ecological restoration; fourth, law enforcement monitoring on water resources and shorelines.

The action plan also aims to mobilize the public with a system of reward and punishment: reward for rivers and lakes voted the most beautiful; and punishment for those who cause ecological damages.

The list of river chiefs will be released to the public through the media, a measure aimed to welcome the public as monitors to their work. The water authority will also employ inspectors and build an official WeChat platform in order to supervise and assess the protection of rivers and lakes. Finally, the officials aim to create a culture of shared responsibility for the protection of rivers and lakes by recruiting volunteers to become patrols and even citizen water chiefs.

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