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“The water here seems to ‘speak’—once you come, you never want to leave!” In mid-August, Shanghai tourist Xu Luning never expected that his family of four would end up spending an entire week in a state of blissful relaxation at Haichuan Liangku Homestay in Kuchuan Village, Yaxi Town, Liandu District. “Every day, we opened the window to feel the mountain breeze from the stream, spent our days reading and drinking tea to the sound of water, and took evening walks by the reservoir. The kids especially loved the canyon rafting”
What captivated them was the pristine natural beauty scarce in big cities—the shimmering reservoir and the thrilling yet fun rafting. Behind all this lies Liandu’s vigorous promotion of “water rights reform”.
Liandu District boasts exceptional ecological endowments in water resources, with 42 reservoirs and 125 ponds boasting a total storage capacity of over 80 million cubic meters. The water in these mountain ponds and reservoirs is crystal clear, surrounded by lush greenery and stunning natural scenery. Yet, the villages nestled beside these “golden mountains and silver rivers” long remained unaware of their wealth, often facing the dilemma of “seeking food while holding a golden bowl”.
“In the past, reservoirs were only used for irrigation and flood control, and village collective income was meager,” admitted Zhu Jiexiao, Party secretary of Kuchuan Village in Yaxi Town. Despite having a reservoir with excellent water quality and ideal elevation differences, the village struggled to find a way to monetize these resources.
The turning point came in 2023 when the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Water Resources designated Liandu’s water rights confirmation and trading as a pilot reform project in water conservancy. This marked the beginning of a transformation aimed at “making water resources dynamic”.
The first step in the reform was to “confirm and certify” water rights. In July last year, documents such as the “Measures for the Management of Water Rights Confirmation for Collective Mountain Ponds and Reservoirs in Liandu District” and the “Report on the Gross Ecosystem Product Accounting of Mountain Ponds and Reservoirs in Liandu District” were successively released. These laid the “top-level design” for Liandu’s pilot water rights reform, entering a phase of comprehensive implementation.
Kuchuan Village took the lead by obtaining Lishui’s first “water abstraction permit”, formally granting the village collective the rights to the reservoir’s water usage. What further bolstered Zhu Jiexiao’s confidence was a scientific “Gross Ecosystem Product Accounting Report”, which estimated the total annual ecological product value of Liandu’s mountain ponds and reservoirs at 39.88 million yuan, with Kuchuan Village’s reservoir alone holding a potential development value of over one million yuan.
“With a scientific accounting report, we now have a clear understanding when it comes to cooperative development!” Zhu Jiexiao said with a smile.
Once water rights were clarified, Lishui Yaxi Tourism Development Company quickly approached the village and successfully bid 263,300 yuan on the Lishui Ecological Products Trading Platform for a seven-year water usage rights contract for Kuchuan Village’s reservoir.
“The water quality here is excellent, and the elevation difference is ideal for developing rafting projects,” said Li Jinhui, a partner of the company. He noted that tourists from the Yangtze River Delta region, especially Shanghai and Jiangsu, particularly love the ecological experience offerings here.
The Yaxi Rafting Project was swiftly launched. Water drawn from Kuchuan Village’s reservoir flows down the mountain, creating a two-segment rafting experience combining a high-altitude glass rafting section with a natural canyon drift. This allows visitors to enjoy both the thrill of rafting and the unique charm of the high-quality water environment. Since its trial operation in June this year, the project has already attracted over 40,000 visitors.
Subtle changes followed the project’s launch. Over 40 villagers along the rafting route became safety supervisors and ticket checkers for the project, earning an average monthly income increase of 3,000 yuan. Nearby farmhouses are fully booked on weekends, and local specialties like dried bamboo shoots, sweet potato strips, and preserved mustard greens are in high demand. Kuchuan Village’s collective economic income grew by 40% year-on-year, exceeding 700,000 yuan this year.
Villager Zhou, who set up a stall near the rafting endpoint selling cold drinks and sodas, said with a smile, “Now I can earn as much at home as I did working away, and I can also take care of my elderly parents and children”.
From “selling scenery” to “selling products”, the vitality brought by this clear water extends far beyond rafting. The “water economy” development chain is now reaching into more industries. In Kuchuan Village, a 200-mu (approximately 13.3 hectares) ecological breeding base is nearing completion. With an investment of 53 million yuan, the project plans to rear 60,000 ecological chickens and ducks annually, expected to add another 200,000 yuan to the village’s collective income.
“We have a broad customer base of mid-to-high-end clients in Shanghai with high demand for ecological products,” said Li Yijun, the principal person in charge of the ecological breeding base project. Once completed, the project will encourage local farmers to engage in the cultivation and breeding of original ecological agricultural products, unifying collection and sales to form a relatively complete supply chain.
Similarly, in Fengshuwan Village, 40 kilometers away, Li Guanyou, the manager of Dandu Homestay, is already planning new water-based projects: “After obtaining the water abstraction permit, we want to develop a variety of water activities to attract more tourists to experience the beauty of green mountains and clear waters, transforming them from ‘water viewers’ to ‘water players’.”
Over the year of water rights reform, Liandu has preliminarily formed a development and utilization list for various mountain ponds and reservoirs. Jiang Libin, director of the Hydropower Management Office of Liandu District Water Resources Bureau, stated that the next step involves promoting standardized water rights trading through the Lishui Ecological Products Trading Platform, attracting various types of capital for cooperative development, and ensuring that every reservoir can unleash its ecological value.
[Extended Reading]
Lishui boasts unique natural conditions, with a well-developed river system and excellent water quality, earning it the title “Source of Six Rivers”. At the Lishui “Two Mountains” Development Conference held in February 2019, the municipal party committee first proposed developing the “water economy”. The “Lishui 14th Five-Year Development Plan Outline” further clarified the need to fully utilize water resources, develop and expand water-related industries, and build the “Lishui Mountain Spring” brand. Currently, Lishui has planned 70 water resource development and utilization projects, involving categories such as common prosperity water networks, healthy water industries, green water energy, and happy water tourism, with a total investment of approximately 96 billion yuan.
[Expert Commentary]
Chen Jingdong, Professor at the "Two Mountains" Teaching and Research Office of Lishui Party School:
Practicing the “Two Mountains” concept and advancing the realization of ecological product value substantially aims to resolve the transformation of “Two Mountains” and achieve common prosperity and sharing. The prerequisite is that “lucid waters and lush mountains” can become tradable market products, which first requires establishing a corresponding property rights system. Ecological products have value, but how to realize this value? Liandu’s exploration of a property rights system, exemplified by the “water abstraction permit”, which ensures ordinary farmers can share in the benefits of “Two Mountains” transformation, provides a powerful “answer”. There is reason to believe that as this reform continues to deepen, it will activate Lishui’s mountain ponds, reservoirs, and streams, truly “turning water into gold” for the benefit of the people.