Branches, straw and garbage litter the Zhuxi River, a tributary of the Yangtze that empties into the Three Gorges Dam area. Since construction of this huge power plant started, more and more waste has appeared in its waters.

Chongqing's environmental protection bureaus predict that sewage discharge, currently 1 billion tons, will reach 2.3 billion by 2010, and that the volume of trash will increase from 1.3 to 2.6 million tons in the same period.

However, the way of dealing with it all remains relatively primitive: using fishing boats to gather the rubbish up with sticks and hooks.

"If we don't use more effective means, 40 billion square meters of water in the area will be severely polluted and the lower reaches will be affected," said Wu Dengming, an expert on environmental protection and president of Chongqing Green Volunteers Association.

Liu Gujun, 39, is the head of Chongqing's Wanzhou District river trash relief team. Since last year, his team has been in charge of clearing floating litter in 27 branches and 23 bays of the Yangtze.

In just one year, his 17-boat fleet has been reduced to 4 vessels. Most of them are refitted old fishing boats with an open hold on the foredeck to load the trash.

His team starts work at 7 AM and there are usually three people on each boat: one steering as the others fish out the garbage.

On entering the mouth of the Zhuxi, a rank smell pervades the air and plastic fast food containers, medicine bottles, broken shoes, branches and even dead animals float on the black, frothy waters.

They use bamboo poles and hooks to pull the trash out, and sometimes five or six people from two boats are needed to remove large and heavy items. 

"We collect over five tons of rubbish on average every day. The intensity of the work is hard to imagine," said Zhu Wenfu, a member of the river trash relief team.

The rubbish will rot and cause serious pollution if not collected quickly, Zhu said, so the team goes out four times in the morning and at least twice in the afternoon. Of course they cannot remove all of it.

Liu said that, as far as he knew, all boats going through the Wanzhou area, big or small, were hit by floating roots and many damaged their screw propellers. His boat had been damaged six times in the last three months.

Roots pose a threat not only to craft but also to the safe operation of the Three Gorges Dam. "It is hard to imagine the result if large quantities converged on the dam," said Liu.

Weeds also increasingly darken the surface, a dangerous sign that oxygen in the water is diminishing and there is more growing room for floating plants.

Liu also said the variety and quality of fish in the river mouth have diminished greatly, the remaining ones being inedible. Dead fish began to appear in the river two months ago.

Although the pollution across the area is worsening, the only people fighting against it face disbanding for lack of money.

Initially they were funded by the local relocation bureau and were able to deal with 15,000 tons of trash, once collecting over 60 tons in one day. But several months ago the funding was handed over to the district department of environmental protection and they have since run short of money.

If this continues, no one will be left clearing the river trash, meaning more pollution and possibly more accidents.

(China.org.cn by Li Shen, Yuan Fang and Wang Ruyue, November 15, 2004)