Fusheng village in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, each day diverts sewage water released from each household into septic tanks, grease traps, fermenting stacks and small ecological wetlands.

Working as a buffer zone, those wetlands are able to block and cleanse contaminated waters released from the different channels before being discharged in the Xiang River, the largest river in the province.

The sewage division, as part of a wide-ranging water conservation program, aims to control sources of pollution and improve the quality of 337 rivers and 14 lakes.

Situated in northeastern Hunan province, Changsha has long been an important hub along the midstream of the Yangtze River, one of the cradles of the Chinese civilization.

Over the past two years, the local government has been undertaking River and Lake Chief Management, a system under which a number of officials are appointed to take charge of the ensuring the quality of local water resources, one being responsible for one river or lake.

The efforts are definitely paying off.

At the foot of Mt. Yuelu, a symbolic mountain known as the home of ancient Chinese academics, and the lake surrounding the Central South University, Hunan University and the Hunan Normal University has been transformed from a fetid pond in a rundown urban area into a clean pool flanked by rustling woods.

To ensure the change, staff cleared the more than 600,000 cubic meters of sludge and removed the polluted dregs that had been mounting up for decades.

Changsha's restoration of water quality is just one part of the story exemplifying China's resolve to restore lucid waters and lush mountains while forming a sustainable ecological system.

In Shaoxing, a downstream city of the Yangtze River in Zhejiang province and also one of the homes to the country's ancient Liangzhu Culture thought to have existed more than 5,000 years ago, the local government has prioritized the prevention of floods and the restoration of idyllic water towns.

To control the outflow from Didang Lake in the once dilapidated urban area, the local administration has expanded the lake coverage from 1,700 mu (1.13 square kilometers) to over 2,000 mu (1.33 square kilometers) and renovated the area by demolishing the illegal buildings and replacing them with amenities, including lakeside cycling circuits, pedestrian causeways and cruise routes. 

Meanwhile, it has renovated the houses in their traditional style and increased greatly enlarged the green coverage.

Now, the lake is able to reduce the flood stage occurring once every 20 years by 0.24 meters and serve as a reservoir to handle heavy rain discharges.

At the southern part of China, Putian in Fujian province, has focused on improving the ecological system around the Mulan Creek, mother river of the city.

The guiding principles of its water conservation program have encompassed flood prevention, eco-protection and cultural restoration. As a result, a 37.4-kilometer dyke and a 20-kilometer causeway were built among layers of riverside flora and more than 300 inland streams have been connected with the Mulan Creek, improving the ecological system reciprocally.

From upstream to downstream, and from main course to tributaries, Putian has been rewarded many times over the past few years for its multidimensional protection of the local environment.

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