According to official data, since 2015, the province has spent about 50 million yuan a year to protect the river.

In addition, Guizhou has strengthened cooperation with various authorities along the river - including setting up a joint compensation fund for ecological protection of the Chishui River basin with Yunnan and Sichuan - and helped establish a joint prevention and control mechanism for ecological and environment problems along the upper portions of the Yangtze.

"Local governments along the river can't just hoe their own potatoes. Protecting the Chishui River requires the combined efforts of all three provinces," said Sun Zhongfa in Guizhou's Environmental Inspection Bureau.

This year, Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan signed a horizontal ecological compensation deal, agreeing to invest 200 million yuan a year into environmental treatment along the Chishui.

Contributions will vary based on each province's economic benefits from the river.

It is the first river basin to be covered by such a compensation mechanism.

Enterprises including Kweichow Moutai, the world's most valuable liquor maker, are also helping to protect the river's ecology.

"Moutai wouldn't have existed without the healthy ecosystem along the Chishui," said Li Baofang, chairman and general manager of Kweichow Moutai Group, which uses water directly from the river to make its liquor. "The river is Moutai's life."

Chishui means "red water" in Chinese - the name was inspired by the river's red sediment.

The water only becomes clear during certain seasons, Li said, adding that microorganisms in the water are believed to be key to the flavor of local liquors.

In recent years, Kweichow Moutai has invested 468 million yuan to build five sewage-processing plants with a combined annual capacity of more than 2 million metric tons, and has donated about 500 million yuan since 2014 to the ecological compensation fund, Li said.

According to Luo Xiaoyong, deputy director of the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, part of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Chishui is one of the most representative tributaries in the Yangtze basin.

It is home to more than one-third of the fish species native to the upper reaches of the Yangtze, and guarding it is crucial for the protection of those species, he said.

"The importance of the Chishui was made clear a long time ago," Luo said. "The decision to not build any hydroelectric projects along the main stream, in line with the comprehensive plan for the whole Yangtze basin, laid a solid foundation for the protection of the Chishui,"

He added that the protection efforts provide a good example for other regions.

Li Hanyi contributed to this story.

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