1.      Achievements in water conservancy construction in the last winter and this spring

A new advancement in water conservancy construction throughout china has been made due to strengthened leadership and well-done work with obvious emphasis in accordance with the sprit of the meeting on water conservancy construction held by the State Council in Sichuan Province last year. The advancement lies in three aspects.

(1)Achievements have been made in terms of farmland water conservancy construction. 260,000 flood-destroyed water works have been repaired, 9870 large and medium-sized reservoirs strengthened, and 910,000 small water projects with a water storage capacity of 1.16 billion m³ added. 64 million Mu of irrigation area were added or upgraded in the past winter and this spring while developing 18.70 million Mu of water-saving irrigation area, 12.50 million Mu of flooded or waterlogged area were controlled, 21.50 million Mu of land with medium and low grain output were improved.37,000 square kilometers of eroded area are under control. Drinking water problems affecting 20 million people living in rural areas were solved or improved. All of the progresses achieved laid a sound foundation for improving the farmers’ living and production situations in rural areas and achieving a bump harvest in agricultural production.

(2) Construction of key projects to improve irrigation efficiency, increase people’s access to water and to solve poverty problems and stabilize the defect-reservoirs goes smoothly. In accordance with the nation’s current grain production situation and requirements, a near-term construction plan for key projects aimed at speeding up irrigation area construction has been worked out. The plan focuses on water-efficient irrigation improvement of large-scale irrigation area in major grain production regions and improving grain production capacity in irrigation area. In order to summarize the implementation of rural water supply and poverty reduction projects and further strengthen the construction and management of water supply projects in rural areas, 23 task teams were sent by the Ministry of Water Resources to 23 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities as well as Xinjiang Production and Construction Group to inspect and assess the water supply and poverty reduction projects. In September 2004, responsibilities documents relating to the defect reservoir stabilization projects subsided by the central government were signed between the Ministry of Water Resources and related provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities to identify ten respective responsibilities including Preliminary work, construction management, completion examination and post-construction management. The central government has allocated 5.95 billion Yuan to support key projects relating to water efficiency improvement in irrigation areas, water supply and poverty reduction in rural areas, defect reservoir stabilization and rainfall storage and usage which are currently going smoothly.

(3) Management system reform for small-sized water conservancy projects in villages deepened. In 2003 the Ministry of Water Resources issued an implementation details on management system reform for small-sized water conservancy projects in rural areas on the basis of local experiences. As of may 2004, 23 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) had published implementation suggestions on management system reform for small-sized water conservancy projects in rural areas and management reform for over 7 million small-sized water conservancy projects (about half of the existing projects) had been completed primarily solving such problems as lack of management body and responsibilities.

These achievements made in water conservancy construction over the last year are mainly attributed to the central government’s concern over issues relating to villages, agriculture and farmers, the publication of various supportive policies and the mobilization of farmer’s initiative and water conservancy reforms.

Currently problems in water conservancy construction in rural areas remain unsolved. With the implementation of new “labor policy ”, investment in rural water conservancy construction are far cry from enough due to lack of corresponding policies and measures, which has brought difficulties to water conservancy construction in rural areas. Worse more, under new circumstances local officials are not quite sure of how to carry out water conservancy construction work. So the water conservancy construction work in some localities are seriously affected.

2.Current drought situations

Since this September, a prolonged drought has ravaged south China region, causing a drinking water shortage and enormous economic losses. According to statistics from the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters (SFDH), the ongoing dry spell has damaged about 3.6 million hectares farmland in south China, threatening 7.1 million people and 3.99 million livestock with shortages of drinking water. The Guangxi Autonomous Region and Guangdong and Hainan provinces have already taken measures to limit water supplies to conserve water.

The current drought was characterized by:

(1)    An exiguity of rainfall. In October provinces of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian , Anhui, Shandong, Henna and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region had a rainfall of less than 8 mm while provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Hainan, Zhejiang,and Jiangsu saw a rainfall of 50 percent less than that of the same period of ordinary years with some localities without rainfall for over 50 days.  

(2)    An insufficient water storage in water conservancy projects. On November 1  water stored in 64 reservoirs in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan totaled 20.61 billion m³, a 12 % decrease over the same period last year. 2200 small-sized reservoirs ran dry.

(3)    A big loss. Guangxi estimates 510,000 tons reduction of grain output( with nearly 2.1 billion yuan direct agricultural loss) and a decease of 550,000 kw  hydropower generating capacity. Shaoguan and Qingyuan, two drought-striken cities in Guangdong Province saw a direct economic loss of 0.34 billion yuan.    Jiangxi Province has 20,000 hectares of aquafarm hit by the drought, losing 450 million yuan (54 million US dollars) in that sector. long-time drought worsened water pollution situation, increased the level of forest fire alarm and affected navigation. 

Currently drought in most areas is still spreading despite rainfalls in south china in these tow days. Water shortage will worsen if reservoirs can’t get effective water supply from rainfalls.

3．Countermeasures

The CPC central committee and the State Council have attracted great importance to drought relief work. Earlier before the meeting, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Hui Liangyu  have instructed to pay high heed to the drought and make every measure to reduce losses of late autumn crops. The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters (SFDH)and the Ministry of Water Resources have sent task groups to the drought-hit areas to learn the situations and help solve practical problems. The Ministry of Water Resources will focus on the following work while attaching importance to river control, integrated water management and building of water-efficient society.

(1) Continue to pay great attention to drought relief. Drought forecast should be strengthened to know drought development trend and a drought relief counterplan should be worked out or improved to enhance drought relief go-aheadism. Integrated water quantity management and distribution should be strengthened to properly use various water sources and put the comprehensive water benefits into full play and minimize the negative effect caused by drought and water shortage.  

(2) Strengthen construction of drought relief water projects. We must carefully analyze the severe drought and water shortage situation and mobilize farmers to carry out construction of water projects as early as possible to combat drought. Comprehensive measures should be adopted to strengthen drought relief ability. Small water storage projects should be repaired and stabilized in order to increase water storage capacity and aged wells and pumping stations should be rehabilitated to recover their anti-drought capacity. In those places with good conditions some new small water projects should be constructed to store, divert, pump and collect water. At the same time sediment in medium and small river channels should be removed.

(3) Attach great importance to the construction of key rural water conservancy projects. Agriculture especially comprehensive grain production capacity should be strengthened to guarantee food safety. Construction of water-saving irrigation projects with emphasis on upgrade of large-scaled irrigation areas should be stressed to improve the conditions of irrigation and drainage, and improve the ability of preventing flood and drought. The Ministry of Water Resources will comprehensively inspect and assess the water efficiency improvement projects in large-scaled irrigation areas in 2005. Guided by the Outlook of Scientific Development drinking water supply and poverty reduction in rural areas should be promoted. All the projects in the tenth five-year plan period to help farmers with drinking water shortage have been carried out and are planed to complete by the end of this year. Next year the Ministry of Water Resources will focus on providing safe drinking water to rural residents in accordance with the requirements of building a well-off society in an all-round way and the CPC leaders’ remarks. The Ministry of Water Resources will hold a meeting to deploy this work. Soil and water conservation, small hydropower plant construction and water conservancy in pasture regions should be strengthened to improve the eco-environment. At the same time the nature’s self-recovery capacity should be put into full play to protect the ecological environment in line with our country’s features in soil and water conservation and ecological construction.    

(4) Promote construction of small-sized farmland water conservancy projects. With a wide distribution and a large amount, small-sized farmland water conservancy projects are closely related to farmers’ benefits and food production. On the one hand, governments at all levels should increase investment in small-sized farmland water conservancy projects including supporting the projects examined and approved by farmers; on the other hand, flexible and effective measures should be taken to arouse the farmers’ enthusiasm for labor input.   

(5)Enhance management of reservoir stabilization projects. Stabilization of aging reservoirs is directly related to millions of people’s life and properties. Water departments at all levels must intensify the management of reservoir stabilization projects. Currently prophase investment should be increased and examination and approval should be strictly done to guarantee the quality of prophase work. Local matching funds should be input. And a strict quality management system must be established and perfected to guarantee project quality. Reform of economic system in reservoir management agencies should be given priority while carrying out reservoir stabilization projects. 

(6) Deepen reforms in management system and operation mechanisms of farmland water conservancy construction. Reforms must be carried out positively and steadily in accordance with features of farmland water conservancy construction and requirements of building a socialist market economic structure while fully considering the practical situations of villages, agriculture and farmers. The reform aims at clarifying ownership of farmland water conservancy projects, identifying management party, lowering management cost, improving service quality and putting the benefits into full play. And social management ability for water conservancy construction should be enhanced to accommodate new development. The suggestion on the implementation of management system reform of water conservancy projects and water price management of water conservancy projects should be put into practice. Various reforms such as farmers’ involvement in water management and private water conservancy projects should not only be encouraged and regulated but also supported and strictly managed. Regulations should be established and perfected to guarantee smooth reform and to promote a sustained and healthy development of farmland water conservancy construction. Grass root reform in water sector should be deepened on the basis of local practical experiences to establish skilled teams that will have a clear-cut function and can provide excellent service to fulfill the increasing demand for social and economic development in rural areas.