Inspections from China's high-profile central environmental inspection led to the reprimand of five prefecture-level areas over violations related to water resources management, as teams continue a month-long review in five provincial-level regions along the Yellow River.

The violations were disclosed in statements on Monday, published by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, where the inspection office is based. Inspectors arrived in late May in the Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions, as well as Shandong, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.

Each inspection team is typically led by a ministerial-level official.

In Jinzhong and Lyuliang cities in Shanxi province, inspectors found that local authorities failed to adequately consider the availability of water resources when planning urban development, land use, population growth and industrial expansion, according to one of the statements.

They also failed to crack down on unauthorized water withdrawals and did not sufficiently curb excessive exploitation of groundwater resources, the ministry said.

In one case, Jinpeng Coking Co in Lyuliang's Wenshui county had the government's approval to use only reclaimed water for its operations, which have an annual capacity of 1.1 million metric tons. However, the company did not use any reclaimed water until March, even though necessary pipelines were completed in 2023. From January 2023 to March, the company illegally consumed 952,000 cubic meters of surface water.

In Jinzhong's Jiexiu city, Jiexiu Changsheng Coal Gasification Cohad a permit to use only reclaimed water for its coking facilities, which have an annual capacity of 1.8 million tons. However, since it began operating last year, the company has used 975,000 cu m of groundwater and 306,000 cu m of surface water.

Meanwhile, Shanxi Zhongfen Liquor Industry Investment Co in Lyuliang was authorized to only consume surface water but continued extracting groundwater to meet production needs, even after it was fined in 2023 by the local water resources authority. Since 2021, the company has been consistently extracting between 1.56 million and 1.66 million cu m of groundwater annually, with no significant decrease.

The cities of Baoji and Tongchuan in Shaanxi province were also criticized for inadequate efforts to conserve water resources and curb illegal water consumption.

In Tongchuan, Shaanxi Meixin Industry Investment Co, a subsidiary of Shaanxi Nonferrous Metals Holding Group Corp, was found to have been extracting non-renewable deep groundwater without a license for an extended period. On March 6, local authorities illegally issued a groundwater intake permit for the company, which they revoked on March 12 after inspectors discovered the violation in an undercover inspection.

In Dongying, Shandong province, inspectors found that local authorities approved five chemical projects that encroached on the watercourses of the Yellow River's main stem after the Yellow River Protection Law took effect on April 1, 2023. The law prohibits construction of new chemical projects and expansion of existing ones in protected zones along the Yellow River's trunk and tributaries.

Government departments and industrial park managers in Dongying and its Lijin county, illegally approved procedures for the construction and expansion of these projects, inspectors said.

The ministry said the violations were made public "to serve as warnings and promote the rectification".