The Chinese Government released a plan to protect drinking water sources in urban areas to guarantee residents' health.

The Urban Drinking Water Sources Protection Plan (2008-20), jointly issued by five ministries including the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Health, will guide environmental protection and pollution control work in drinking water source areas.

Illegal buildings, drain outlets, dumpsites and factories will be removed from such areas under the plan. The total project is estimated to cost 58 billion yuan ($8.5 billion).

Activities that may pollute the water in the protected areas, such as fish farming and swimming, will be banned. Local governments will also launch ecological restoration projects in protected areas. Meanwhile, monitoring and emergency response systems will be enhanced for water quality control and management.

The plan comes after an investigation of water quality at 4,002 centralized drinking water sources in 655 cities and towns nationwide.