A river runs through rural Rudong. [Photo/Rudong Daily]

Rudong, a county in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, has been dedicated to managing its rivers and water over the past several years.

Located close to the Yangtze River and the Huanghai Sea, Rudong is home to more than 1,500 rivers spanning 570 kilometers.

As early as 2017, Rudong implemented the river chief system, in which government officials are assigned to take charge of protecting waterways in their area. Local residents have also been encouraged to protect rivers.

Each river in the county is also managed by designated individuals and monitored via drone.

Zhuyuan village, for example, has organized a professional team to dredge waterways. "The village plans to manage six waterways this year," said Zhou Qingpo, deputy secretary of the Party branch of Zhuyuan village. "The greening of the riverbank will also begin right after the river management is completed."

A wastewater treatment plant in Rudong. [Photo/Rudong Daily]

Rudong has in recent years dredged 800 rivers with a total length of 800 km in rural areas, and this year it plans to treat 43 rural waterways stretching 89 km in total.

At the end of 2018, construction of sewage treatment facilities started in Rudong, and the county has built 11 wastewater treatment plants in its 11 towns.

Rudong has also established a sewage system with over 400 km of sewage pipe and over 500 domestic sewage treatment facilities in rural areas, which serve more than 53,000 households.