THOUGHTS ON ECOLOGICAL WATERSHED PLANNING UNDER THE TERRITORIAL SPATIAL PLANNING

Abstract

The author firstly points out several problems that commonly exist in China’s watersheds and the urgent need for multidisciplinary collaboration in ecological planning. The theories and practices on watershed ecological planning are reviewed respectively from the aspects of waterway planning, natural river and wetland protection, ecological baseflow recovery, nonpoint source pollution reduction, and biodiversity protection. The author suggests that if we could reserve multi-functional ecological zone in the new territorial spatial planning by multidisciplinary collaboration, ecological goals including flood control, water quality improvement, ecological base flow provision, and biodiversity protection could be achieved. In this comprehensive solution, only when water bodies and associated habitats such as the ground and underground, upstream and downstream, and rivers and banks are coordinated as a whole, it will generate multiple ecological benefits. Finally, the author believes that planners and designers have the ability to solve ecological problems. To fulfill this vision, we must call for collaboration between land planning and ecological watershed planning in the process of territorial spatial planning.