On November 26, the Sichuan Provincial Government Information Office held a press conference in Chengdu on "Sichuan's Comprehensive Promotion of Happy Rivers and Lakes Construction." Yue Lei, Deputy Director of the Sichuan Provincial Water Resources Department and Deputy Director of the Provincial River Chief Office, introduced at the meeting that Sichuan will focus on river basins as units, river and lake systems as the脉络 (network), and local "Mother Rivers" as key areas, aiming to build 315 Happy Rivers and Lakes over the next five years. By 2035, the urban sections of rivers and lakes above a certain scale in the province are expected to be basically developed into Happy Rivers and Lakes, establishing a strategic framework of "seeing results in five years, achieving full coverage in ten years."
The Sichuan Provincial Water Resources Department and five other departments jointly issued implementation opinions for comprehensively promoting the construction of Happy Rivers and Lakes. These clarify five key tasks, including enhancing river and lake safety, define the scope and conditions, and establish 20 universal indicators and 6 differentiated indicators, creating a Sichuan standard for Happy Rivers and Lakes.
Yue Lei reported that this year, Sichuan has inspected 146,000 key locations including river channels, mountain torrent gullies, and reservoirs, identifying and rectifying 5,568 potential hazards. A special campaign, "Cleaning Up Ten Thousand Rivers," was launched, reviewing 1,046 river-related construction projects, dismantling 105 illegal work sheds and camps, and relocating 15,000 residents. Notably, 2025 marked the first year with zero fatalities from flood and waterlogging disasters.
Sichuan has also strengthened the rigid约束 (constraints) on water resources, steadily improving the compliance rates at 53 national and provincial water allocation sections and 94 ecological flow assessment sections. Supervision of sand mining in rivers has been enhanced, leading to continuously standardized sand mining秩序 (order) across the province. Ecological restoration of rivers and lakes is underway, with ecological flows effectively monitored for 2,889 hydropower stations. Restoration of wetlands in the Zoige grassland has reached 232,500 hectares, and over 35.6 million fish and other aquatic organisms have been released since 2024 to enhance stocks.
Furthermore, Sichuan has built a "Rivers and Lakes Data Base," integrating nearly 100 million data entries across 75 categories, including information on 10,164 rivers, 8,103 reservoirs, and 12 important wetlands within the province. Relying on the informatization platform of the River Chief System, this enables a "comprehensive overview on one map" for basic information, "unified oversight through one table" for River Chiefs' performance, and "full access at one stop" for data elements, significantly improving the efficiency of river and lake supervision and the scientific level of decision-making.
Yue Lei added that Sichuan has conducted surveys of water heritage sites like the Dujiangyan irrigation system to挖掘 (unearth) their historical value. The Jianjiang Weir in Pengzhou was successfully inscribed on the World Heritage Irrigation Structures list. Stories of cross-border river management, such as the Chishui River in Luzhou and the Baishui River in Aba, have been incorporated into primary and secondary school water education materials. More than 20 River Chief System theme parks have been built, connecting cultural heritage like ancient bridges and stone carvings to present the cultural elements of "one river, one characteristic."
To invigorate the green economy, Sichuan has innovated an integrated "Rivers and Lakes +" development model to transform ecological value into economic advantages. For example, Guanghan City, centered on the ancient Shu culture of the Sanxingdui archaeological site, built a 16-kilometer riverside boardwalk along the Yazi River, created water surface landscapes, and formed new riverside formats integrating cultural tourism and public recreation. Chengdu implemented the Jin River Basin-wide Water Ecological Management and Landscape Enhancement Project, building the "Night Tour on the Jin River" cultural tourism IP. This has received 10.25 million tourists and generated revenue of 110 million yuan, turning the "Mother River" into a "golden waterway" that activates the urban economy.
Editor Ⅰ: Zhang Congxiao
Editor Ⅱ: Bao Gang
Editor Ⅲ: Liu Guosong
