Songhua River Basin Water Pollution Control and Management Project

Long-term vision and strategic planning. Strategic prior ADB TA (technical assistance) contributing to the preparation of the SRBPCMP (Songhua River Basin Water Pollution Prevention and Control Master Plan), which was approved by the State Council in March 2006, and ongoing ADB involvement and long-term partnership with local governments in the SRB (Songhua River Basin) is a model for replication. Key inputs to the SRBPCMP through ADB TA established a solid framework for policy and governance reforms and capacity building for pollution control, sustainable urban development, and integrated river basin management. The TA also developed a strategic prioritized portfolio as the basis for future investments by the government, ADB and other development partners, and the private sector. This was featured in the project design and implementation, and was fundamental to ensuring project relevance, and sustained future regional and local-level pollution control actions. In particular, following project preparation, phases 1 and 2 of Songhua River Basin Water Pollution Control and Management Project Private Sector Facilities provided an equity loan to Longjiang Environmental Protection Share Company to complete the project investments by upgrading wastewater and sludge treatment facilities in the SRB. Finally, one key aspect of the strategic planning was to identify cities where ownership and commitment were high, which is very important in situations involving a large number of cities and stakeholders.