Under the guidance of the Department of River and Lake Management of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Guidelines for Health Evaluation of Rivers and Lakes (Trial) (hereinafter referred to as "Guidelines") edited by NHRI was recently approved for release.

River and lake health evaluation is an important content of river and lake management, an important means to test the "promises in words" and "concrete actions" of the River and Lake Chief System, and an important reference for river and lake chiefs at all levels to make decisions on river and lake governance and protection. The Ministry has organized and carried out the pilot work of national important river and lake health evaluation since 2010. As one of the important technical supporting institutions of the national river and lake health evaluation, NHRI has completed the compilation of the Guidelines through long-term research, exploration and practice. Combined with China’s national conditions, water conditions and river and lake management practices, and based on the principles of scientificity, practicability and maneuverability and the concept of river and lake health, an index system and evaluation methods for the health of rivers and lakes are established in the Guidelines from the three aspects of ecosystem structural integrity, ecosystem resilience to disturbance and social services sustainability. The health of rivers and lakes is evaluated from the four criterion levels of "basin", "water", "biology" and "social services", which contributes to quickly identify problems and analyze causes in time, helps the public understand the real health status of rivers and lakes, and provides references for river and lake chiefs at all levels and relevant industry authorities to perform their duties of river and lake management and protection. The Guidelines is also one of the important achievements of Research on River and Lake Health Evaluation System and Management Decision Support Under the Background of River and Lake Chief System, a research project on major scientific and technological issues of water conservancy hosted by our Institute.

The Guidelines unifies and standardizes the evaluation process and methods for the health of rivers and lakes, which is of great significance to thoroughly implementing the water management philosophy of "prioritizing water conservation, balancing spatial distribution, taking systematic approaches, and giving full play to the roles of both government and market" in the new era, actively promoting the in-depth development of the general tone of "improving weak links in water projects and strengthening the supervision and management of water sector", speeding up the modernization of water governance system and governance capabilities, and building happy rivers and lakes.