7/28/2019 Jintang China Water management article

1/2American Planning Assciatin

Party secretary Wang Bo of Jintang county, located in

Chns Shun Provne, rsed mny questons durng hs three-week

Myors rnng Study our to the U.S. n 2011. He ws eselly n-

terested n how Amern lnners mnge wterronts, strems, nd

rvers, nd he ws tvted by the suess story o Bltmores Inner

Hrbor. APAs rnng Study ours hve hosted hundreds o Chnese

leders sne 2002.ours oen led to n-deth ollow-u studes by

APA-led tems o lnners nd desgners to suort rttng Chnese tes. Fol-

lowng hs 2011 tour, Wng sked APA to ssst Jntng County ols n exlorng

unque oortunty or ther growng jursdton: wter resoure mngement n-

tegrted wth urbn desgn.

s s ubqutous n Chn s t s n the U.S.,

the tems ntegrted strtegy reort gves

the APA Chn Progrm good se study

to shre wth leders nd lnners n both

ountres.

Nel Wensten, aicp, hed o the Mry-

lnd-bsed Low Imt Develoment Cen-

ter, ws rt o the tem. We hve been

workng on rtl ltons o green

nrstruture or long tme, nd to nd

Rethinking a ResourceJntng County shows the wy on wter resoure mngement.

By Je Soule, faicp

G

,

G

G

;

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A sketch o Jintang, viewed rom downstream.

In Chn,

In 2012, tem o APA members nd

Chnese exerts develoed Jntngs Wter

Mngement nd Urbn Desgn Strtegy

through roess tht nluded ste vsts,

tem meetngs, nd extensve bkground

work. Now, less thn yer er the tem

resented ts reommendtons to Jntng

ols, the ty s norortng the re-

ommendtons nto ts lns nd onstru-

ton hbts.

Getting to great

Wth n extensve rver system, Jntng

County (ronouned s Jntng; o.

750,000) wnts better ntegrton o ts w-

ter lndse nd eologl helth; t s lso

keen to use ths rojet to edute govern-

ment ols nd the ubl on how to tret

the wter system s n menty nsted o

mere utlty.

Beuse the ssue o wter mngement

Sichuan

Province

CHINA

Jintang County

7/28/2019 Jintang China Water management article

2/244 Planning octber 2013

wy to shre some bs des n Chn

mde lot o sense, he sys. Another tem

member, m Vn E, aicp, dded ths: I

hve been workng nterntonlly on env-

ronmentl ssues or mny yers, nd Jn-

tng oered gret hne or us to show-

se lessons lerned rom the wtershed

level ll the wy to the street nd blok.

Te tems reort begns wth n nly-ss o the urrent stuton n Jntng nd

ross ll o Chn. Fn Xo, the he eng-

neer o the Bureu o Geology nd Mnerl

Exlorton o Shun Provne, rovded

vluble Chnese exertse. Severl ssues

lk o eroson ontrol, trsh, urbn storm-

wter runo, grulturl runo, dmmng

or esthet resons, nd humn enroh-

ment nto the foodlnhllenge Jntng

wter resoures. remendous eroson t

onstruton stes s not urrently mtgt-

ed nd retes serous sedment roblems

downstrem.

Te next element o the tems reort

showses lessons lerned n the U.S. over

the lst 50 yers, wth exmles o how to

mrove wter qulty nd mtgte threts

rom foodng. One ont s stressed: the

mortne o lookng omrehensvely t

the ssues nd t ll slesthe regon, ty,

nd ndvdul stes.

Green nrstruture s the ous o the

thrd rt o the reort. In exlnng the

rtonle or nludng ths normton,

Andy Fng, APAs rogrm ssote or

nterntonl rs, sys tht whle green

nrstruture s mlr term n Chn,

most Chnese lnners thnk str lnt-

ngs nd the osonl green roo grdens

sue. Te vlue o ths reort, he sys, s

to mke t ler tht green nrstruture re-qures muh more ntegrton nd vrety

o tehnques.

em member Joe MDonld, aicp,

ormer APA senor reserh ssote now

wth the Northest Oho Sustnblty

Communtes Consortum, rovdes these

detls bout the tems reommendtons

on green nrstruture: Jntng ols n

strt wth the bss, lke eroson ontrol on

develoment stes, trsh mngement, nd

estblshng nturl rrn buer res,

he sys. Longer term needs, nludng re-

movng rver brrers lke the rubber dm

shown here, n ollow.

ulne Unverstys Regonl Urbn

Desgn Center, led by Grover Mouton nd

Nk Jensh, rovded the reorts urbn

desgn elements. Tey worked hnd n

hnd wth the wter tem (Wensten, Vn

E, MDonld, nd Fng) to nlude the

onets o wlkblty, green nrstru-

ture, nd desgn gudelnes nto the reort.

Among those suggestons: more humn-

sled street ross setons tht nlude

green stormwter mngement systems nd

dtng the street ttern to the rver th

to rete more enggng urbn wterront.

Te tems ntegrted strtegy reort lso

nludes three demonstrton stes n Jn-

tng: n exstng resdentl blok retrot,

green street desgn n the new dstrt, nd rurl strem orrdor n hstor town.

Tese stes re desgned to hel Jntng o-

ls exln the des nd mlement them

mmedtely. Te green street desgn hs l-

redy been nluded n the engneerng ln

or the new town.

Te nl reorts on both wter resoure

mngement nd urbn desgn were re-

sented lst Deember nd were well reeved

by Chnese exerts nd the lol govern-

ment. As result, the reort s now rt o

the ol lnnng reommendtons or

Jntng, nd the ommunty s roeedng

wth ts lns or mrovng wter mnge-

ment ordngly. In ddton, the Preeture

o Chengdu, where Jntng s loted, hs

shred ths reort wth other munltes

tht re ng the sme ssues.

Jef Sule is APAs directr utreach andinternatinal prgrams.

The Water Management and Urban Design Strategy recommends moving this rubber dam in Jintang, which prevents the natural fow o water.