In March 2018, with the approval of the relevant departments, it was comprehensively deployed to carry out the cleanup and rectification of environmental problems of drinking water sources. Local people's governments at all levels should, in accordance with the requirements of the relevant departments, organize the investigation and correction of environmental violations of drinking water sources in their administrative areas, and fulfill the three key tasks of “planning, establishment, governance, governance, governance, governance, governance, governance”. According to the law, the “water source protection zone”, that is, by the end of 2018, the Yangtze River Economic Zone, above the county level, will clean up and rectify the environmental problems of urban water sources. By the end of 2019, other regions will have completed the clean-up and remediation of water sources in cities above the county level, in an effort to realize the goal of water resource protection.

In order to urge localities to speed up the cleanup and rectification of environmental problems, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has decided to organize a second round of special inspections of water sources to promote the in-depth implementation of water resource protection, aiming at: 6,251 problems in 1,586 drinking water sources, which should be completed by the end of this year.

The second round of water source inspections began on September 1st and ended on September 28th. The relevant departments deployed 622 key law enforcement officers from across the country to inspect 6,251 environmental issues in drinking water source protection zones nationwide in four batches, checking the progress of each issue one by one. Among other things, emphasis was placed on “zero progress” issues and issues seriously lagging behind in rectification, with a view to further identifying the causes and speeding up the rectification process.

Just on September 1, the nation's second round of centralized supervision of drinking water source environmental protection was officially launched.

What is the background to the implementation of the second round of special inspections of water resources? In recent years, positive progress has been made in the environmental protection of drinking water sources in China, but the protection situation is still severe. In some areas, drinking water source protection zones are poorly demarcated, the boundaries are unclear, illegal problems are common, and environmental risks are prominent.

The second round of inspections focuses on checking and cleaning up the 6,251 environmental problems, improvement programs, progress and problems on a case-by-case basis. Only by monitoring and mastering comprehensive and complete first-hand information can we lay a solid foundation for the follow-up work. We require the inspection team to fill in the details of on-site inspection of all issues and upload on-site photos and relevant supporting materials through the Water Source Inspection APP, and the inspected area can also submit relevant documents and supporting materials through the APP time. Rectification of related problems. On the basis of identifying the problems, timely public disclosure to the society, reporting and criticizing the areas with serious problems lagging behind, strengthening the responsibilities of local governments and relevant departments, and creating a situation of strict investigation and rigorous investigation. Continued high pressure has ensured the effectiveness of the second round of special supervision of water sources.

The second round of special inspections of water resources will further urge municipal and county governments to increase the disclosure of information and to publicize their inspections on a daily basis. At the same time, we require localities to open up to the community in a timely manner, to carry out special supervision and management of water sources, and to actively rectify the problems involved.

All localities should conscientiously implement the decision-making and deployment of the relevant departments, and unswervingly promote the cleanup and remediation of environmental problems in drinking water sources to achieve milestones. In order to further accelerate the resolution of environmental problems in drinking water sources, the relevant departments organized the first round of centralized monitoring of environmental protection in drinking water sources nationwide from May 20 to June 2, 2018. Given the tasks for 2018, the first round of inspections was based on the 3,991 environmental problems reported by localities, with 2,260 new problems identified, the problem pool further inspected and accounts established.

Through on-site supervision of drinking water sources across the country, local governments and relevant departments have been urged to further raise their political status, actively fulfill their responsibilities for environmental protection, accelerate the cleanup and rectification of problems, strengthen follow-up supervision and management, and ensure the safety of drinking water quality.