039-i. Advisory Review: Master Plan for Lake Tai Rehabilitation - China

The NCEA issued advisory reviews of two stages of a rehabilitation programme for lake Tai. It provided observations and recommendations for the short-term clean-up programme as well as the master plan for lake management.

Advisory reports and other documents

Significant details

Lake Tai is heavily polluted due to population growth and agricultural and industrial activities. To improve the situation, a Dutch company applied for MILIEV funding for a programme consisting of two phases:

• Selection of priority projects for a short-term clean-up programme; and
• Preparation of a master plan for lake management.

The Netherlands government asked the NCEA to review the quality of products in both phases. An NCEA working group in close collaboration with Chinese experts executed a joint review of the first phase (draft Engineering study). The main findings of the review were as follows:

• Essential information at this stage of the study is lacking;
• Part of this information is not yet planned to be gathered in the second phase;
• Additional information should be gathered on non-point sources pollution, ecology and fisheries.

Concerning phase two of the programme (development of a master plan), the NCEA made the following observations and recommendations:

• The master plan does not provide an adequate decision framework since essential components are missing (i.e. in the baseline analysis, measures and strategies, scenarios, alternatives, imlementation, and monitoring);
• The master plan and its decision framework can be considered successful in case the selected rehabilitation alternatives will be incorporated in the next 5-year plan;
• The focus of the master plan on reducing phosphorus load is a good strategy for combating eutrophication on the short term, but not on the long term;
• No measures are included to reduce the phosphorus and nitrogen loads from the agricultural sector;
• Non-point or diffuse sources of waste water are not addressed but may be important.

Parties involved

Members of the working group

Chair: Dick de Zeeuw
Technical secretary: Arend Kolhoff

Proponent and Component Authority

Further details

Country: China

Last modified: 15 Apr 2019