On October 10th, the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) convened a video conference to advance the Special Campaign for Renovation and Upgrading of Aging Reservoirs, ensuring renovation and upgrading of aging reservoirs is carried out in a comprehensive and systematic manner.
The conference pointed out that reservoir safety is directly related to people’s lives and property. President Xi Jinping has issued multiple important instructions, emphasizing that China has a large number of reservoirs, among which many are with high dams and hazard‑prone. Safety must always be put first and risk screening, early-warning and hazard elimination should be strengthened, so as to operation of all reservoirs. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have recently launched the Special Campaign for Renovation and Upgrading of Aging Reservoirs.
The importance and urgency of this campaign should be fully recognized. The water sector must put people and their lives first, have plans in place for worst-case scenarios, and stay vigilant against potential dangers. Targeting the goal of “no dam failures”, renovation and upgrading of aging reservoirs will be solidly implemented to markedly improve their flood control capacity and safety resilience, ensure their long-term safe and stable operation, and firmly uphold the bottom line of protecting people’s lives and property.
The conference emphasized that comprehensive and systematic renovation and upgrading of aging reservoirs shall be carried out in categories and by batches. Efforts will be made to improve monitoring and early-warning capability, optimize reservoir operation and management, strengthen emergency response capacity, and refine long-term operation and maintenance mechanisms. Quality and efficiency shall be given equal priority. In-depth pre-project preparation shall be carried out and approval efficiency raised. Rigorous management shall be exercised over construction, quality, progress and funds to ensure the delivery of people-centered, high-quality and integrity-oriented projects.
Source: INTCE