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This article is from a student at Tenzer Learning Center in New York, NY. Tenzer participated in a series of visits with Pulitzer Center journalists leading up the High School News Literacy Summit at Baruch College in Manhattan.
In the evening, my mother and I walked on the Minjiang River. I saw dead fish floating on the river and also smelled the smell. Mother said, "When I was young, the water was so clear, I could clearly see the fish swimming in the water." My mother, Dong Ai, 46 years old, is a housewife who lived in Fujian Province in China.
Many people, animals, and plants live along the Minjiang River. Many of the people are pig farmers. They dump the pigs' waste products into the river. This seriously pollutes the river. In addition, water lettuce grew all over the surface of the river. This is also a big pollution, because it will kill the fish.
Many people are studying water pollution in Fujian Province. According to Liu Yilai, who is Deputy Secretary-General of Fujian, "In 2003, the entire basin of urban domestic sewage discharge [was] 2.77 million tons." And he also offers two suggestions. First, we should deal with the farming systems' pollution. Second, we should rectify [how] the hydropower station seriously affects the water environment.
In 2004, 360 of polluted pig farms were moved. In 2005, Fujian Province held an event called the China Environmental Protection in the New Century. The theme was "treasure resources, protect the water environment." All the Fuzhou citizens are participating in this activity.
I asked my mother, "In your childhood, you have heard of water pollution?" She said, "No, I never thought about this issue. This is very bad." So I think we have to make good use of water. Do not throw things into the river. Water is the source of us; it is our life. If we do not protect water, perhaps the last drop of water we drink will be our tears.
Sources:
http://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/20060327/0913615903.shtml