With more city governments fined for failing to curb water pollution in a tributary of the Yellow River, China's environmental watchdog has bared its teeth.

Baoji City Government has become the third local authority after Xi'an and Xianyang in northwest China's Shaanxi Province to be penalized by the provincial environment regulator in almost half a year, after the density of pollutants in the Weihe River topped the upper limits.

The severe pollution in the Yellow River [www.QQ.com]

The fine of 200,000 yuan was imposed on Baoji in late May after monthly checks by Shaanxi Provincial Environmental Protection Department (SPEPD) showed excessive chemical oxygen demand (COD) in local waterways in February and April.

Although Xi'an and Xianyang both passed the most recent checks after being fined 400,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan respectively in January, environment officials Thursday said it did not mean an end to the problem.

SPEPD deputy chief and spokesman Li Xiaolian warned it was too early to be optimistic as the summer rainy season had raised the river level, which could dilute pollutant densities and help local governments look good.

"A fine of hundreds of thousands of yuan might be small money compared to the fiscal revenues of local governments. But our ultimate goal is to use economic leverages to put local governments on the forefront of environmental improvement," Li said in an interview with Xinhua.

"Local governments should be the first to be liable for environmental deterioration. But in the early stages of China's economic reform, local governments tended to think environmental protection was less important than economic growth. It is high time to break this habitual thinking and press local governments to value quality over quantity of economic expansion," he said.

A provincial regulation to curb water pollution that took effect on Jan. 1 sets the penalty for every milligram per liter of excessive COD in river water at 100,000 yuan. The official limits set for the Weihe River are 19 mg per liter in the first half-year and 17.5 mg in the second half.

All the fines will enter a special account of the provincial treasury. About 60 percent of the total will be appropriated to local governments at the end of the year as environment preservation funds. The remaining 40 percent will be awarded to cities or districts where local river water quality has markedly improved.

Shi Ying, deputy director of the Shaanxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, said the provincial environment watchdog had taken a "very significant move" by fining local authorities.

"It is very difficult to see dramatic progress in curbing water pollution without different levels of government immediately changing their approach. Frankly speaking, after years of crackdowns, few factories now violate environment rules. The emphasis of environmental protection work must shift from companies to local authorities," Shi said.

After being fined, Xi'an city government launched an immediate survey of pollution sources, only to find two companies, a starch maker and a combed cotton plant, discharging excessive pollutants into the river. Production in both companies has been suspended.

China's environment regulators, long criticized for being weak, started flexing their muscles in late 2006 by making environmental impact assessments compulsory for the approval of new economic projects.