Erhai, located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, southwest China, now can provide drinking water again, experts said.

They attributed the improvement in water quality to the efforts of local government in controlling pollution in the famous plateau lake and improving the local environment.

Erhai, covering 250 square kilometers and being the second largest fresh water lake in Yunnan Province, is named as the "mother lake" by local people.

The drinking water quality of the lake was contaminated in 1996 when a vast area of seaweed broke out in the lake.

Since this event, local government has worked out stricter measures to protect the lake.

Local officials said that fishermen are banned of fishing during winter. More than 10,000 fish-breeding net cages have been removed out of the lake and more than 2,500 motorboats confiscated.

A fisherman from Haiyin Village by the lake said that "I earn much less money from selling souvenirs compared with fishing. However, we love to do so to protect Erhai."

All of the villagers of Haiyin have cast aside their fishing boats to sell tourism souvenirs and other products this winter.

At the same time, tourism departments have also been urged to take effective measures to protect Erhai from being polluted.

The local environmental protection department said that a project to restore wetland ecology will be started next year, and by 2005, a forest belt, 110 kilometers long and 50 to 100 meters wide, will be built around Erhai.

All polluting enterprises near the lake will be shut down by the end of this year, local officials said.

(People’s Daily 12/12/2000)