In late March, residents of southern Hunan were passing on an emergency notice from environmental authorities about thallium pollution in the Leishui River. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The river feeds into several local water supply plants, and villages draw from it for use at home and on farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An emergency response had been triggered four hours after abnormal levels of the metal were identified, the notice stated<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thallium, a toxic element which causes both acute and chronic poisoning, is an uncommon pollutant and China\u2019s standards<\/a> for surface water quality do not require testing for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quick action meant the quality of water at supply plants was not affected, and there have been no reports of harm to health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the past, thallium contamination had been discovered after the fact,\u201d Ma Jun of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), a non-profit, told Dialogue Earth. \u201cBut in this case it was picked up earlier, by automated monitoring, in time for an emergency response.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n China\u2019s water-monitoring network got a boost in 2015 with the State Council\u2019s Water Pollution Action Plan<\/a>. Its aim was to improve the quality of surface water, groundwater and coastal waters, as Dialogue Earth reported<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the decade since, China has made significant progress on tackling surface water pollution. Between 2014 and 2024, the percentage of such water suitable for drinking, fishing and direct human contact (that is, Class I to Class III) rose<\/a> from 63% to 90.4%, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE). While the share of the most polluted waters (not reaching Class V) fell from 9.2% to 0.6%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, serious challenges remain \u2013 with the rural water environment, with groundwater, and with new pollutants. Experts told Dialogue Earth that as water quality improves, the government\u2019s focus is shifting from controlling pollution to restoring ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prior to the release of the 2015 action plan, frequent water and air pollution incidents were causing public concern and a loss of trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China has had a Water Pollution Law since 1984, and the 1990s saw government-led clean-ups targeting specific rivers. The action plan, though, brought together the government, the market and the public. This joint approach to water governance was seen as a new normal<\/a> replacing the \u201ciron fist\u201d approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The clean-up of foul urban waterways is seen as a typical example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ma Jun recalls rivers that would flow into a city and emerge dark and foul-smelling. The action plan set a goal of eliminating that problem by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2016, the MEE and other bodies launched an online reporting platform and started sharing data with the \u201cBlue Map<\/a>\u201d of pollution created by the IPE, encouraging members of the public to provide leads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to data on the Blue Map, 13,000 reports were received in the following four years, with over 80% receiving an official government response. By June 2024, China had identified over 3,000<\/a> \u201cfoul waterways\u201d through a combination of public reports, real-time monitoring and remote sensing. Of these, 98.4% received an intervention of some degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA new normal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n