A comprehensive program aimed to protect water resources in the entire drainage area of Yangtze River has been reviewed by experts at a state-level meeting Sunday in Beijing. The program is jointly initiated by the Ministry of Water Resources and related departments of 16 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the Yangtze River valley after conducting two years of field investigations. Four major subareas Much different from traditional ones, this program divides the whole valley into four major subareas – the protection zone, buffer zone, exploitation zone and reserve zone in terms of major functions of local water resources. In addition, the exploitation zone is also further divided into special-purposed subareas where water resources are used respectively for daily life, industry, irrigation, aquatic cultivation, and sightseeing. Feasible and efficient Experts said at the meeting that this program has covered the largest drainage area, involved most advanced technologies and therefore will be most effectively implemented. Ning Yuan, director of the water resources and hydropower designing institute under the ministry, said the program is the first of its kind that has given a general program for protecting water resources within the Yangtze River drainage area as a whole. Ruan Renliang, an official with Shanghai resources bureau, said this program will be much more feasible and efficient compared to the similar programs in the past, and inevitably resulted in inconsistency and controversy. The program also provides the results of the investigations over the current sewage discharge amount and absorbing capacity indifferent areas, and puts forward limitations over discharge of pollutants with a view to better curbing water pollution. Moreover, the program suggests that further efforts should be made in the fields of soil and water conservation, river channel improvement, as well as pollution monitoring and control. According to the program, the water pollution in the Yangtze River area will be remarkably reduced by 2010 while most of the water sources for drinking is to be greatly improved. Liu Changming, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that to ensure sound water quality of Yangtze River is of urgent importance, as the "South-to-North" water diversion project and water retaining project at Three Gorges will soon be launched.