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The News N° 24
FRom one conTinenT To anoTHeR
China
French-Chinese cooperation
in the pilot Hai River Basin and Zhou sub-basin
The Hai River Basin covers four pro-
vinces (Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Inner
Mongolia) and two large municipalities
(Beijing and Tianjin).
Under the French-Chinese cooperation agree-
ment on water management signed on
21 December 2009,
a pilot project was
launched in this Hai River Basin for
4 years (2011-2015).
It aims to test the
application in China of some mechanisms for
basin management, water pollution control
and ecosystem protection, used in France
since 1964.
The project partners are the Chinese Ministry
of Water Resources, the Water Resources
Conservancy Commission of the Hai River and
the Water Boards of Tianjin Municipality and
Hebei Province, as well as the French Ministry
of Ecology, Sustainable Development and
Energy (MEDDE), the Seine-Normandy Water
Agency (AESN), the Interdepartmental Syndi-
cate for Sanitation of Greater Paris (SIAAP),
the Interdepartmental Institution of the Seine
Great Lakes and
the International Office
for Water (IOWater)
which coordinates the
project from a technical viewpoint.
The second phase of the project (2012-
2014) mainly deals with the Zhou River
sub-basin: 2,114 km
2
, 2.4 million inha-
bitants and main source of drinking
water supply to the city of Tianjin.
This second phase prioritizes an assess-
ment of the basin and the definition of
priority measures to meet the identified
challenges.
In particular, the Yuqiao reservoir, which sup-
plies drinking water to the city of Tianjin, suf-
fers from severe eutrophication.
A training session on governance was organi-
zed in Tianjin for about thirty managers and
technicians of the Chinese partner organiza-
tions.
Three technical assignments were carried out
in the Zhou River Basin (December 2012, May
and September 2013), mobilizing French
scientific experts from the PIREN-Seine
research group on the modeling of pollutants,
from INRA and the Water-Environment Labo-
ratory of the Public Works School ParisTech on
the identification and monitoring of cyano-
bacteria.
These assignments also allowed presenting
methodological tools useful for the assess-
ment (method for the calculation of concen-
trations, equilibrium of Water Bodies, mode-
ling) and the advanced production of a Pro-
gram of Measures (on-site sanitation plan,
revision of water regulations for dams, etc.).
A delegation of six officials of the Chi-
nese partner organizations traveled to
Paris area in October 2013.
It attended a meeting of the Seine-Nor-
mandy Basin Committee.
It also visited
the sailing port of Viry-Chatillon and the
Research Center on Experimental and Predic-
tive Ecology of Ile-de-France where
exchanges on the control of cyanobacteria
and stormwater management took place as
well as the presentation of innovative tools
for the study of the biology of a Water Body.
The Project Steering Committee met in Tianjin
in late October 2013 to define the program of
activities for 2014 and to clarify the articula-
tion of related projects financed by the Chi-
nese party for data collection and technical
exchanges.
4
Members of the Steering Committee in Tianjin - October 2013
Plants proliferation in the Yuqiao reservoir
