Tian Xuebin, Vice Minister of Water Resources, said at the meeting that China attaches great importance to the construction of rural drinking water projects and has been increasing input. By the end of 2018, more than 11 million water supply projects had been completed, serving 940 million rural people, and the penetration rate of tap water in rural areas reached 81 percent. From difficulty in drinking water to access to water, from fetching and carrying water to drinking tap water, farmers have improved their living conditions, health and quality of life, and made their lives happier and more dignified.

 

 

 

Since last year, the Ministry of Water Resources has organized more than 1,000 people to conduct large-scale unannounced visits for nine months to further understand the current situation. Since the beginning of this year, we have worked out a work plan, further increased funding, and made solid progress in consolidating and improving rural drinking water safety. By the end of May, we had secured safe drinking water for another 283,000 people living in poverty, and ensured water supply for more than 13 million rural residents.

 

 

 

Recently, the State Council executive meeting to study the deployment of rural drinking water safety work. The Ministry of Water Resources will resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and make all-out efforts with relevant departments.

 

 

 

First, we will focus on improving water supply for 60 million rural residents. First, we will comprehensively solve the problem of safe drinking water for the poor. Second, we will improve water quality. Third, we need to solve the problem of insufficient water supply. By the end of next year, the 13th Five-Year Plan for consolidating and improving rural drinking water safety will be completed.

 

Second, promote the establishment of long-term operation of the project management and protection mechanism. There are also three tasks: First, to establish a reasonable water price and water fee collection mechanism. Second, we will establish a mechanism for government subsidies. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Water Resources allocated 1.45 billion yuan of central government funds this year for the first time to promote the establishment of an incentive mechanism linking subsidy funds with innovation in water fee collection and management and protection mechanisms. Third, give play to the exemplary role. To carry out popularization and demonstration of successful examples of construction and management of projects of different scales in different regions, provide reference and replicable experience, and give full play to the exemplary leading and demonstration role.

 

 

Third, overall planning of the "14th five" rural water supply development. Because of China's national conditions, water situation and regional differences, rural water supply security is a long-term task. In accordance with the requirements of the rural revitalization strategy, we will study and improve rural water supply standards. Ministry of Water Resources in conjunction with relevant departments to start the preparation of "difference" rural water supply planning, combining with the urban and rural integration development and overall planning, village to promote urban-rural integration and large-scale water supply project construction, reforming early old project and pilot village water supply development, deepening the reform of engineering construction and operation system of the management mechanism, and continuously enhance the level of rural water supply security.

 

 

Aiming at the end of next year to solve water shortage problems of the rural population 60 million drinking water, Tian Xuebin said: Ministry of Water Resources and supervision in accordance with the approval of the people's government at the provincial level around the "much starker choices-and graver consequences-in" consolidate promotion project for rural drinking water safety, compiled the scheme for this year and next, refining the real tumble annual goals and tasks cities and counties and the engineering measures. In order to effectively improve the water supply for 60 million rural residents, the Ministry of Water Resources has intensified its efforts:

 

 

First, we will increase financial support. At the beginning of this year, the Central government, in conjunction with the Development and Reform Commission, allocated all the central subsidy funds for the 13th Five-Year Plan one year ahead of schedule, so as to facilitate the overall arrangement and use by all localities. To support rural drinking water projects in the central and western regions, we will increase central government subsidies by 6 billion yuan this year and next by adjusting the investment structure of water conservancy projects, and 4.5 billion yuan has been allocated this year. At the same time, the Leading party members' group of the Ministry of Water Resources attaches great importance to the role of financial support. With the strong support and cooperation of the China Development Bank, The Agricultural Development Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China and other financial institutions, the Ministry has continuously deepened strategic cooperation and provided credit fund support for the construction of rural drinking water projects.

 

 

Second, we will promote large-scale projects. In suburban areas, plain areas and densely populated areas, integrated urban and rural water supply and large-scale rural water supply will be promoted, so as to achieve the same standards, guarantee and services for rural and urban water supply. In areas with relatively concentrated population, we will actively promote the construction of large-scale water supply projects for more than 10,000 people, and strive to increase the proportion of water supply population for the 10,000 people project and urban pipe network extension project from 47% in 2018 to 50% in 2020.

 

 

Third, we will upgrade old projects. At present, there are still some rural water supply projects built many years ago, some even 20 years ago, when construction standards were low, some had reached their useful life, pipe network leakage rate was high, and water supply capacity was insufficient. It is necessary to adopt comprehensive measures such as renovation, supporting facilities, upgrading and networking to speed up renovation and improve water supply security.

 

 

The fourth is to basically complete the task of changing drinking water type fluorine beyond the standard. Last year, the Ministry of Water Resources, together with the Health Commission, organized various localities to find out the bottom line, and guided the formulation of a work plan for changing the standard of drinking water type fluoride, which was planned to be solved through water source replacement, water quality purification and treatment, poverty alleviation and relocation in indeveloped areas, so as to ensure that the problem of excessive drinking water type fluorine would be basically solved by the end of 2020.

 

 

For rural water supply project point more area wide, water conservancy department what measures to strengthen the supervision service, let the engineering practical issues to play a role, rural, director-general of the department of water resources and hydropower ming-zhong Chen introduced: Ministry of Water Resources after the institutional reform, clearly put forward the "water conservancy project to repair short, strong water conservancy industry regulation" tone, the completion of rural water supply facilities at the same time, of the board of rural drinking water safety management main body responsibility implementation, project construction progress and quality, unit operation and management of water supply and water supply service levels, strengthen the supervision of the industry.

 

 

First, we will intensify unannounced inspections. Since September last year, the Ministry of Water Resources has organized more than 1,000 people to conduct a large-scale unannounced inspection of the drinking water of more than 3,000 administrative villages and 11,000 water users in more than 200 counties in 28 provinces over a nine-month period. At the same time, all localities are required to draw parallels, conduct a comprehensive investigation, and establish a regular working mechanism for secret visits.

 

 

The second is to establish the connection system of the river basin management agencies in poverty-stricken counties. The Ministry of Water Resources has deployed seven major river basin management agencies to establish a system of contact among 832 poverty-stricken counties nationwide, providing monthly technical guidance and conducting secret investigations to timely find and solve problems.

 

 

Third, the establishment of rural drinking water reporting supervision mechanism. In April this year, the Ministry of Water Resources opened a telephone number and an E-mail box to supervise reports on drinking water in rural areas. At present, all provinces in China have opened provincial and prefectural telephone lines for reporting and supervision, and are promoting the opening of county-level telephone lines for reporting and supervision.

 

 

Fourth, the establishment of a list of problems and rectification list. For problems discovered through various channels, such as media exposure, unannounced inspection, and reports from the public, a list of problems and a working ledger will be established in a unified way, and "one province and one single" will be issued in a timely manner, requiring rectification to be made one by one in each region. If necessary, arrangements will be made to "look back" and follow up closely to ensure that everything is implemented and everything will be answered. For some serious problems, according to the relevant procedures to start the accountability and accountability mechanism.

 

 

In view of the reconstruction of rural water supply projects in some areas, light management and lack of operating funds have led to abnormal operation and poor sustainability of some projects. Yang Xinyu, director general of the Finance Department of the Ministry of Water Resources, said: China's rural water supply projects in many areas and large quantities, less than 1,000 water supply projects accounted for more than 99%. Most of these small water supply projects are located in mountainous, pastoral and remote areas, with a small water supply population, low water fee income, imperfect management and protection mechanism, and local financial difficulties. As a result, some of these projects have to operate at a low standard with poor sustainability.

 

 

In order to strengthen the operation, management and maintenance of the project, the Ministry of Water Resources focuses on the following four aspects to promote this work:

 

 

First, we will establish a mechanism for setting reasonable water prices and collecting water charges. This is the key that establishes project long - lasting to run a mechanism, it is the key that solves project sustainability to differ. The Ministry of Water Resources has guided and urged all localities to implement the current water pricing policy, reasonably determine the cost of water supply, and implement unitary, two-part and tiered water pricing systems in light of local conditions. We will comprehensively promote metering fees for projects involving 10,000 people and 1,000 people, and charging or fixed fees for projects involving fewer than 1,000 people. Through the collection of water charges, the responsibility consciousness and supervision consciousness of water users participating in management consciously should be enhanced.
 

 

Second, we will establish a central and local government subsidy mechanism. In some mountainous areas, pastoral areas and remote areas, the cost of water supply is relatively high, and the water price and cost are inverted, making it difficult to meet the demand for sound operation with water fee income alone. It is necessary for the central and local governments to subsidize these areas and projects. This year, the Ministry of Water Resources, together with the Ministry of Finance, for the first time included the repair and maintenance of rural drinking water projects in the central government's water resources development fund. Guidelines were jointly issued to regulate the use and management of funds, establish incentive mechanisms, guide local governments to provide necessary subsidies, and ensure the normal operation of projects.

 

 

Third, we will advance property rights reform and introduce market mechanisms. We will clarify project property rights in light of local conditions, reform the project management system and mode, and introduce investment, construction and operation by enterprises. The government and social capital cooperation and other ways to attract social forces to participate in the construction and operation of rural water supply facilities.

 

 

Fourth, promote classification and reasonably establish the project management model. In principle, the 10,000 People Project will be carried out with corporate operation and professional management, while the 1,000 People Project will be carried out with professional management through government purchase of services and contracting of management rights. Projects of less than 1,000 people may be managed or managed by village committees, water cooperation organizations and WATER users associations, or they may, in accordance with village regulations and civil agreements, mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers to participate in water management and conservation and jointly promote the management and conservation of rural water supply projects.

 

 

 

With Ministry of Water Resources has been prepared to take what measures to solve the problem of poor drinking water safety, vice minister of water resources Tian Xuebin said: Ministry of Water Resources resolutely implement the central about win battle poverty and build a well-off society in an all-round way of decision deployment, will solve the problem of poor drinking water safety as water conservancy, poverty alleviation leading engineering efforts to advance.

 

 

First, the evaluation criteria for rural drinking water safety and poverty alleviation were clarified. For all reflect the rural drinking water safety evaluation standard scale uncertain problems, organize the formulation of the rural drinking water safety assessment criteria, from water water quantity, water quality, water supply reliability, convenience four aspects put forward the quantitative indicators, poverty relief office of the State Council, health committee post deployment, urged relevant provinces combined with the actual guidance for refinement, as rural drinking water safety evaluation and acceptance of crucial basis out of poverty. At present, all provinces with the task of poverty alleviation have clarified the evaluation criteria for rural drinking water safety.

 

 

Second, we accurately verified the number of poor people with drinking water problems. In accordance with the specific standards set by local governments, the government, together with the Poverty Alleviation Office of the State Council, guided local governments to carry out full coverage verification of the poor population with drinking water problems, and found out the bottom line. By the end of 2018, there were still 1.043 million poor people in China with safe drinking water. For these populations, a working ledger shall be established from county to village, and incorporated into the national Poverty alleviation and Development information system, which shall be updated in a timely manner, dynamically adjusted and sold on a rolling basis.

 

 

Third, we will focus on key areas. For xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi and other provinces with heavy tasks, a special plan will be formulated to assign each poor village, household and population with drinking water problems to a specific project, with specific solutions and time points identified.

 

 

By the end of May, China had solved the problem of safe drinking water for 283,000 poor people. Going forward, the Ministry of Water Resources will intensify its work, guide and urge local governments to speed up project construction, so as to ensure safe drinking water for more than 800,000 poor people this year and fully solve the problem next year.

 

 

 

Aimed at making clear the central rural drinking water safety to practice the "province overall responsibility, cities and counties to grasp the implementation of" the working mechanism of how the Ministry of Water Resources in accordance with the central decision compaction local main body responsibility, rural, director-general of the department of water resources and hydropower ming-zhong Chen is introduced: the rural drinking water safety practice the "province overall responsibility, cities and counties to grasp the implementation of the" working mechanism. As the main body of responsibility for rural drinking water safety, local people's governments at all levels shall be responsible for the overall planning, leadership and institutional guarantee of rural drinking water safety within their jurisdiction, as well as the implementation of administrative organs, personnel, and funds for project construction and operation management. In order to compacting local principal responsibilities, the Ministry of Water Resources, together with relevant departments, has intensified efforts:

 

 

First, establish the responsibility system of rural drinking water safety management in an all-round way. Earlier this year, issued by the Ministry of Water Resources files, requirements around the end of June this year the full implementation of the rural drinking water safety management of the local people's government regulatory responsibility main body responsibility, the competent department of industry, water supply unit operation management responsibility "three responsibilities", before the end of the rural drinking water safety project at the county level sound operation and management mechanism, operation and management measures on the management of funds and other "three system", by the end of may, the implementation of the "three responsibilities" more than 90%. Once the responsible person is clear, all responsible persons and service telephone Numbers should be published on the local media or website. On the one hand, it is to urge the responsible person to better perform their duties and take responsibility, while facilitating the society to better supervise.

 

 

Second, we will strengthen secret investigation and verification. In accordance with the requirements of "strong supervision", the Ministry of Water Resources has set up a special inspection team to carry out inspections in a "four straight lines" manner, which means no notice, no greeting, no report, no escort and no reception, going straight to the scene and directly facing the persons responsible. Find out the situation and grasp the facts.

 

 

Third, we will strengthen assessment and accountability. Drinking water safety has been made an important task of ensuring three guarantees, and included in the annual performance assessment of poverty alleviation. At the same time, the implementation of the "three responsibilities" will be incorporated into the strictest water resources management system for assessment. Through the assessment and accountability, we will force local governments to truly implement the main responsibilities.

 

 

Fourth, unimpeded channels for reporting. The Ministry of Water Resources and provincial water conservancy departments have opened telephone Numbers and E-mail boxes to supervise reports on rural drinking water. By giving full play to the supervision role of the masses, all-weather and all-round supervision will be opened to promote the solution of various water supply problems.