China Develops Plan to Clean Up Its Polluted Lakes 

The Chinese government unveiled a detailed plan to limit pollution in China’s lakes by 2010 and return them to their original state by 2030.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, ordered strict regulation of the release of wastewater, the closing of heavily polluting factories near lakes, the improvement of sewage treatment facilities and strict limits on fish farms. The council also banned the use of pesticides with highly toxic residue near large lakes as well as detergents containing phosphorus.

China’s three main lakes, Tai, Chaohu and Dianchi, have all had algae blooms in recent years. Stimulated by high levels of phosphorus and other chemicals, algae has blanketed large areas of water, killing fish and making the water undrinkable for large numbers of people living nearby. An algae bloom that covered a large area of Lake Tai last spring was particularly severe and received national attention. The toxic cyanobacteria produced a choking odor up to a mile from the lake’s shores and prevented two million people nearby from drinking or cooking with the water. 

NYTimes January 23, 2008 

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