2 8 0 0 ° ° ° 0 OSTROV CHUCKCHI 40 ° 8 VRANGELYA St. Lawrence I. L B A 60 1 SEA (U.S.A.) A R A 0 V D ° 10 ° 6 S 0 N ° R C A NO R W E G I A N S E A T E E A S T A ° I C E 0 C O 6 Pevek ZEMLYA FRANTSA S 0 S I B E R I A N ° IOSSIFA Anadyr' 0 ° yr' 8 ad 1 S E A n A NOVOSIBIRSKIYE G Y N O R W A SEVERNAYA OSTROVA Cherskiy N Oslo ZEMLYA B A RE N T S I E N E D R DENMARK S E A LA P TE V W olo D I n E S L Y A nd E M A SE A ig N i B Murmansk Z E r k

A S a Stockholm A Y Copenhagen A A K a L V R oly m I N O F N A K A Tiksi a E Helsinki K Dickson Y lin B S W a in A L C n g T I H A a r I T E a E S d Tallinn a K in ta Khatanga a 1 s e m St. Petersburg a h 2 c Arkhangel'sk y K R.F. h POLAND P Magadan 3 Riga Petrozavodsk Nar'yan Mar a S t

L k Pskov e K k

Warsaw e a Vilnius v o t e n 2 . hora Vorkuta Noril'sk u n a Novgorod D P ec y e 0 Dudinka l v Petropavlovsk- 0 ° ° i O 6 Minsk n Y Kamchatskiy 1 Cherepovets a e n

Ukhta i

s

Vologda T e

Kotlas a y S E A BELARUS Smolensk Tver' Salekhard z Igarka o r a g r ap Vol Yaroslavl' Syktyvkar Yakutsk L'viv y u Turukhansk n P O F D Moscow (Moskva) b O Bryansk ilyu n Nizhniy V y a Kyiv ld OKHOTS K A Ryazan' Novgorod A I N nguska N iz u Orel a Kirov hnyaya T Mirnyy A Chisinau k O M Lipetsk Kazan' Serov O 4 UKRAIN E Kursk Perm' Izhevsk O R Nizhnevartovsk Saransk a l l o Pod e Voronezh am b kh ka k K a m a nipro Penza To V m s D e a e n r Nab. Chelny Yekaterinburg n u Od aya Tung Vitim Saratov ' usk m Donets'k 'sk a A Ufa a D V a Samara Ir ' AROUNDn THE GLOBE o ol g ty Ket Y e Yuzhno- SEA OF n sh e L n a Sakhalinsk AZOV i r Sevastopol' s Anga Monitoring Chinese-Russian Magnitogorsk Chelyabinsk e Rostov- y Transboundary Waters l) BLAC K na-Donu Volgograd ' a b Bratsk Yuqiong Liu, Ph.D. – SAHRA, University r Oral m Tomsk hi O U s Krasnoyarsk of Arizona SE A Krasnodar Elista ( Orsk I q Qostanay Novosibirsk Kemerovo Because of their strategic location, water y Stavropol' y resources associated with transboundary 4 a Aqtöbe 0 Astrakhan' h and other water bodiesChita play ° Z - Novokuznetsk J Ankara Nal'chik Aturau Abakan an important role in regulating the a Astana Ulan-Ude A 5 l economic, trade, and cultural exchanges 0 a 4 ° E between and . The Chinese- k Irkutsk P h r c t Russian transboundary river system TUR K E Y ha is Tbilisi Mak is largely located in the province of A

D A ° ° Kyzyl S K AZA KHS TA N R N - A C , China. It consists of I A N S E A T E E A S T A ° I C E 0 C O 6 Pevek ZEMLYA FRANTSA S Aqtau S I B E R I A N Anadyr' 6 IOSSIFA 0 ° Qaraghandy yr' 8 ad 1 S E A n A NOVOSIBIRSKIYE G SEVERNAYA OSTROVA Cherskiy N N Yerevan ZEMLYA four rivers (Heilongjiang, Wusuli, B A RE N T S I Zhezqazghan R S E A LA P TE V Om olo D I n E L Y A nd E M A SE A ig N i B Murmansk Z E r k

A S a A Y A A L Kol ma N V R y O A N Tiksi K Dickson Y Erguna, and Suifen) and Xingkai Lake a W n H A a I T E S E a K in ta Khatanga a n s e m St. Petersburg a h c Arkhangel'sk y K h P Magadan Ulaanbaatar a Petrozavodsk Nar'yan Mar S t

L k e e K k

e a v o t e n . hora Vorkuta Noril'sk u n a 7 A gorod D P ec y e l l Dudinka v Petropavlovsk- 0 ° i O SYRIAN n Y 6 Kamchatskiy 1 vets a e ARAL n Ukhta i r s

(see map). In Russia, these waters are e

Vologda T a y Kotlas Salekhard z Igarka S E A a g Yaroslavl' Syktyvkar r Yakutsk e u Turukhansk P O F E Moscow (Moskva) b O ilyu n 0 200 400 km Nizhniy Tura V y a Baku ld ARAB OKHOTS K azan' Novgorod A Niz nguska a Kirov hny Tu Mirnyy H k aya Kazan' Surgut Izhevsk Perm' Serov S Nizhnevartovsk O respectively referred to as the , Saransk a l l o Pod e SEA am b h ka k k K a m Penza To V m

e a n r Nab. Chelny Yekaterinburg n u aya itim REPUBLIC Saratov Tungusk V m Tyumen' Tobol'sk a A Ufa a V a Samara Ir t' n Yuzhno- ol g ty Ke Y e Komsomol'sk- sh e L n a Sakhalinsk i r na-Amure Vanino s Anga Skovorodino Magnitogorsk Chelyabinsk e y Qyzylorda ) l Orenburg ' a b Bratsk N r Tomsk Oral m hi Omsk O U s Krasnoyarsk ( Orsk I q Qostanay Novosibirsk Kemerovo U , Arguni, rivers and y s 100 200 250 mi y s 0 a Aqtöbe u h Chita r Z - Novokuznetsk i J Aturau r Abakan u Astana Ulan-Ude a A m u 40 ° Barnaul A h E Irkutsk g P r on SE A 4 ti S s A U - K AZA KHS TA N Kyzyl Aqtau Qaraghandy O F N N Zhezqazghan Semey Vladivostok 0 Ulaanbaatar n ARAL le . Basic characteristics er JA P A N SEA H S Qyzylorda U S y MONGOLI A Tokyo Z r D.P.R. D A kmenbashi B a r OF KOREA E y y a P'ongyang Tokyo K TURKMENISTAN I I A S I Soul Ashgabat Tashkent li m T Beijing Z u REP. OF r A Bishkek N ° D 9 of these water bodies are listed in the a uan KOREA N H g r ary y n Locations of China-Russia transboundary rivers and the city of ,ISLAMIC a P REPUBLIC Dushanbe YEL LO W D 8 S E A PA CI F I C N CHIN A OCE A N S T A N S N I A Turkmenbashi B H Kabul Jammu G table below. Water quality ranges from and CHIN A a where the November 2005 chemical spill occurred. F A Islamabad Kashmir 80 S E A A PAKISTAN 100 IRA Q C r ° ° ° E y good to poor (level I representing the a countries are necessary, as each country and Wusuli.P'ongyang The two sides are also TURKMENISTAN K Almaty best, and level V the worst). Rivers I identified as cross-border are those that has access only to its own part of the river. expected to conduct a joint feasibility S AshgabatA Tashkent flow from one country into another; study on pollutionSoul prevention/control m T As industrial,Beijing agricultural, and other for the two rivers and to work together u A Bishkek boundary rivers form the political REP. OF N socioeconomic developments become on other environmental issues. D 9 boundary between the two countries. KOREA a N Huang increasingly active in the China-Russia r ary y n Response to Water Pollution a Joint Monitoring of Cross-Border Rivers border regions, environmental problems ISLAMIC and Other Emergencies For cross-border rivers, water quality in these regions, especially water Timely warnings and quick responses REPUBLIC Dushanbe monitoring is relatively easy, as both quality problems, have intensified. Over YEL LO W to unexpected water pollution accidents countries can conduct tests on a whole the past few years, the two countries OF 8 in transboundary rivers are critical cross section of the river within their have increasingly cooperated on water S E A PA CI F I C to minimize the potential damage IRA N CHINown territories. Water qualityA monitoring conservation and environmental protection to ecosystems and those who live OCE A N T A N is more difficult for boundary rivers, efforts in the border river areas. Both I S along the river in both countries. N Dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control and coordinated efforts between the two countries recognize each other’s water A Kabul H Jammu in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. quality standards, assessment and On Nov. 13, 2005, a chemical plant G The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been technological systems, and set up a blast in the city of JilinCHIN in northeastA F and working group and expert team for agreed upon by the parties. China contaminated the upper reaches A Islamabad Kashmir periodic meetings. In 2002 and 2003, of , whichS atE 1,927A km in 60 80 100 ° PAKISTAN ° China and Russia jointly performed length (about 1,200 miles) is the largest ° eight environmental assessments for two to the Heilongjiang River. About of the border rivers, the Heilongjiang 100 tons of benzene and other chemicals Map No. 3840 Rev. 2 UNITED NATIONS Border river/ Length/Storage Drainage Area/ Water Quality January 2004 River Type lake Capacity Surface Area (km2) Levels Heilongjiang River 4370 km 1,855,000 III-IV Boundary Wusuli River 890 km 187,000 IV-V Boundary Erguna River 1608 km 161,000 I-III Boundary Suifen River 443 km 17,300 I-III Cross-border 3 View along the Heilongjiang River Xingkai Lake 2.71 km 4,380 III-V Boundary (from www.chinaculture.org). Characteristics of China-Russia transboundary waters (from Ke et al., 2002).

38 • May/June 2006 • Southwest Hydrology were released. The Chinese government responded by increasing water releases from big reservoirs to dilute the toxic slick, using activated carbon to remove nitrobenzene and other chemicals from the water, and establishing over 50 monitoring stations along the Songhua River. Russia was notified about the incident on Nov. 22, about one month before the slick reached its waters.

The two countries launched a joint mission to monitor the flow of the plume in the Songhua and Heilongjiang rivers. The concentrations of toxic chemicals in the plume had declined sharply by mid- December, meeting the safe drinking water standard by Dec. 22 when it reached the Heilongjiang River on the international border. Findings from 48 monitoring wells along the Songhua River indicated that the groundwater resources were not polluted. Owing to the quick emergency response and active cooperation of the two countries, no poisoning of humans livestock has been reported. However, an ecological impact assessment indicated that the ecosystem along the corridor of Songhua (OWDOYOUMANAGE River may take a long time to recover. ONEOF%ARTHSMOST Plan for the Future PRECIOUSRESOURCES To prevent future water pollution accidents in the border river regions, !SK'OLDER China and Russia signed a five-year agreement on Feb. 21, 2006 to jointly monitor the water quality of their transboundary waters, including all four rivers and the lake. Experts from the two countries will regularly exchange information and work together to develop comprehensive environmental protection 7EFOCUSONSUSTAINABLEWATERRESOURCESOLUTIONS and emergency response plans. 4HEWORLDSMOSTPRECIOUSRESOURCEISBECOMINGMOREPRECIOUSBYTHEMINUTE4HATS Contact Yuqiong Liu at [email protected]. WHYRESPONSIBLEMANAGEMENTISCRITICALTOENSURINGWATERFORINDUSTRYANDAGRICULTURE FOR China Daily (www.chinadaily.com) was the major HOUSEHOLDNEEDSANDFORTHEFUTURE'OLDERHASBEENPROVIDINGCOST EFFECTIVESOLUTIONS source of information on the water pollution accident TOSATISlEDCLIENTSFOROVERYEARS lNDINGBETTERWAYSTODISCOVER PRODUCE TRANSPORT and the 5-year China-Russia agreement. MANAGEANDTREATWATER 'LOBAL)SSUES,OCAL3OLUTIONS ¥ '!# Reference ,OCALOFFICES Ke, C., X. Yang, J. Jia, and S. Jia, 2002. Water 4UCSON   environmental problems of Sino-Russian !LBUQUERQUE   SOLUTIONS GOLDERCOM boundary rivers and countermeasures, Water WWWGOLDERCOM Resources Protection, 1: 43-44.

May/June 2006 • Southwest Hydrology • 39