Project Scope and Relationship to China's Agenda 21

This proposed project aims at, in an integrative way, reducing industrial water pollution, river floods and a water borne disease caused by these floods in the Jingsha urban area. The project is based on the objective of managing sustainable development as indicated in programme area 6A in China's Agenda 21. It will contribute to reducing the harmful impacts of endemic diseases, developing cleaner production and mitigating floods, mentioned in programme areas 9D, 12B and 17B respectively.

1. Background

The twin-city of Jingsha - the name being composed of the first parts of Jingzhou and Shashi - plays an important role in the development of the Jiangling County, the Jingzhou District and even Hubei province. Shashi is a new national star city of light industry. Jingzhou has a history of 2600 years and is a major tourist centre now.

Shashi has over 10,000 industrial and mineral enterprises, which benefit from a good infrastructure. The telecommunication network, airport and harbour are highly modernized, whereas a new highway and railway are due to be finished. Human capacities are rather well developed, showing in science and technology, medical care and public sanitation.

The economic boom, however, has its darker sides too. The river is heavily polluted by the industries. In 1993, about 260 million tons of waste water and about 1.3 million tons of solid industrial waste was emitted. The poor quality of drinking water seriously endangers health conditions, and even affects stone constructions such as the ancient walls around Jingzhou.

Moreover, the river brings floods about every two years, if the water body cannot flush rapidly through many sharp bends downstream. The poor embankments and the drainage system of canals and pipes are already blocked by solid waste disposal from factories. Up to 4,000 ha. of stagnant water and muddy soil, resulting from the floods, are breeding grounds for snails (schistosome). About 4000 inhabitants suffer from the infectious snail fever (schistosomiasis) every year.

The integrative approach required has been adopted by the provincial government by taking the responsibility for a comprehensive environmental regulation. The Shashi municipality prepares a plan to control fifteen pollution sources, with the support of a World Bank investment. The experiences gained from this project could be useful for the implementation of the proposed project.

2. Objective

• Long-term Objectives
  • Tackle comprehensively three wastes related problems in the Jingzhou-Shashi urban area so as to reduce industrial water pollution, reinforce the safety of river embankments and expunge the snail fever. These environmental improvements will stimulate the economic and social development and function as a demonstration of environmental management.

• Immediate Objectives
  • Conduct a study on the urban environment and revise the regional environment management programme.
  • Establish a regional environmental database and an environmental information system to support planning and decision making.
  • Treat the industrial waste water with advanced clean technologies and introduce process-integrated production.
  • Complete the construction of the embankments of the river in the city.
  • Expunge snails and snail fever.
  • Establish an education and training centre to improve the public environmental awareness.

3. Activities

• 3.1 Revise the environmental management programme.
  • Revise the regional environment management programme.
  • Design criteria for identifying relevant categories of people and their environmental and economic understanding, interests and behaviour.

  The duration of this activity will be two years.

• 3.2 Formulate sustainable development strategies and establish supportive systems for sustainable development of urban areas, including a regional resources and environment monitoring network, a regional environment database, and a decision making supportive system.

  The duration of this activity will be two years.

• 3.3 Build waste water treatment plants and introduce cleaner process-integrated industrial production.
  • Build two secondary sewage water treatment plants for the urban area of Jingzhou and Shashi.
  • Expand the capacity of the existing water treatment plants for the discharges from the printing and dyeing mills of Shashi city.
  • Set up a powder coal comprehensive utility unit which recycles its solid waste and thus combined process-integration with high efficiency.
  • Set up a yellow phosphorous tail gas collection plant of the Shalong Agricultural Chemicals Limited Company, with combined process-integration and high efficiency.

  The duration of this activity will be three years.

• 3.4 Reinforce river embankments, improve urban drainage and eliminate snail fever.
  • Complete the Zuzhou River embankment project.
  • Complete the drainage of the West Main Canal and Chihu Lake.
  • Complete the embankment, urban drainage, historic wall restoration, and ring roads construction of the ancient Jingzhou city.
  • Complete the snail fever (schistosomiasis) elimination project.

  The duration of this activity will be three years.

• 3.5 Establish a training centre.
  • Establish an environment education and training centre to increase the public environment awareness.
  • Identify relevant categories of people to study their environmental perceptions, local knowledge, short and long term interests, and individual and collective interests.
  • On the basis of this study, apply communication techniques to build human capacities of trainees.

  The duration of this activity will be two years.

  All activities will be executed by the Shashi Municipal Government and the government of Jingjiang District, The Planning Commission of Hubei province will be responsible for the supervision.

4. Inputs

• 4.1 Chinese inputs
  • Project management
  • Inviting experts, transportation and office equipments
  • Purchase of equipments and instruments
  • Initialization of the demonstrative projects
  • Data collection

• 4.2 International cooperation
  • Purchase of equipments and instruments
  • Experts
  • Data collection
  • Initialization of the demonstrative projects
  • Personnel training.

5. Benefits

After the completion of this project, the established database and information system will facilitate the environmental, economic and technical development of the City. Of the industrial solid wastes 95 percent will be recycled and the treatment rate of domestic waste water will be 85 percent. Most of the floods and drainage problems will be controlled and then the Schistosomiasis will be under control. The ancient Jingzhou city will be more attractive to tourists. Five hundred people engaged in environmental management will be trained annually.