A joint motion was passed in Jinan, Shandong province by the Ministry of Water Resources and the Shandong provincial government on Nov. 7, making Jinan the country's first "water civilization city," Thepaper.cn reported. The Ministry of Water Resources has also arranged for other cities to learn from Jinan, yielding 105 such water civilization pilot cities by 2020.

In October 2012, Jinan was chosen as the first pilot city for the project. After three years of work, Jinan's water was effectively improved. The revival of historic springs is the most direct reflection of the continuous improvement. For example, Baotu Spring, a culturally significant artesian spring in Jinan, has flowed for 13 years. In addition, statistics show that water withdrawal in Jinan has decreased from 1.68 billion cubic meters in 2012 to 1.522 billion cubic meters in 2015.

Although Jinan has a reputation as a famous "spring city," it gradually came to lack water resources just like many other cities. The water resources per capita in Jinan are less than one-seventh of the national average.

Since becoming a pilot city, Jinan has pushed for a full implementation of the most stringent water resources management system. Meanwhile, Jinan has carried out a project connecting city water systems in order to comprehensively manage surface water, ground water, the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and other water sources.

The Ministry of Water Resources stressed additional focus on the concept of water civilization, and recommended fully implementing the strictest water management system and water-saving guidelines.