This project was undertaken from Dec. 26, 2014 to Dec. 25, 2015. All tasks specified in the project were completed as scheduled. Every two months, aerial imageries of the Wu River and Zhuoshui River were obtained, and on-site inspections were carried out with the inspection report submitted for authorities concerned to understand how much area of exposed riverbed there was, and to investigate the land use and hydrological condition of the County. In 2015, the natural vegetation along the section of Zhongliao Village of Hemei Township in the Wu River basin was not affected during the flood period. The vegetation coverage area was approximately eight hectares, and 12.5 hectares of exposed riverbed, a length of 11.5 km extending from Ziqiang Bridge at the Zhuoshui River basin to Xibin Bridge, have been protected. In addition, a pool of 120 hectares was set up, which served to alleviate fugitive dust across an area of 250 hectares (including the area protected through the water covering method).
Based on the County's current status of the rivers and its air quality, the “River Fugitive Dust Prone Areas and the Classification / Delineation of the Affected Areas” were determined. This, as well as the three-year weather and air quality statistics obtained from the monitoring stations of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), was developed into a comprehensive database. Two sessions of video conferencing-based coordination meetings focusing on affected areas, as well as educational training for information platform use, were organized for the general public to know how to report river fugitive dust cases and the responsive measures taken via the platform or mobile App.
To enable the public in the County to take correct prevention measures, 71-day cable TV scrolling texts and promotion via radio, 35 electronic displays with scrolling texts were employed, and 10 sessions of a fugitive dust education program were held this year. The questionnaire survey results showed a noticeable increase in the public's satisfaction with the government's river fugitive dust measures and promotion efforts, with the satisfaction level being 80% and 73% in two surveys. Also, in order to strengthen horizontal communication between the County and neighboring counties/cities and central governmental agencies, two sessions of fugitive dust prevention simulation and on-site drill, as well as two meetings for fugitive dust prevention/control affairs and communication were organized.
In addition, two spots at the Wu River and the Zhuoshui River were selected respectively, i.e. Da Tong Elementary School, Zhongliao Village Office, Yong Guang Elementary School and Tian Tou Elementary School, during the dust-prone season and monitored altogether 44 times with an air quality monitoring vehicle. The statistics obtained from the monitoring were adopted to analyze the impact of the fugitive dust on neighboring townships. The results showed that the TSP and PM10 in the four monitored spots came within the standard values. The PM10 values at Da Tong Elementary School and Zhongliao Village Office showed no significant difference from those at other monitored spots (Xinzhuang, Chuanghua, Xitun and Shalu) of EPA. The overall average concentration of PM10 was below 60 ug\m3, falling into the moderate air quality level. The overall average concentration of PM10 values at Yong Guang Elementary School and Tian Tou Elementary School was below 70 ug\m3, also at the moderate level.
During the project period, areas severely affected by fugitive dust were cleaned. A total area of 18,366 km was completed, reducing PM10 by 47.75 tons.
