Implementing scientific flood management for harmonious coexistence between man and nature

(March 21, 2006 – Mexico City)

By H. E. Mr WANG Shucheng

Minister of Water Resources, P. R. China

Preventing and controlling flood and waterlogging disasters to safeguard people’s life and ensure sustainable socio-economic development is a pressing task that all governments and international community are confronted with. In particular, it has become a strategic issue for developing countries. Here, I would like to talk about three aspects.

I. Preventing and managing flood and waterlogging disasters is a severe and long-term challenge to China   

Flood and waterlogging disasters are the most damaging natural disasters in China.   Due to special geographical and climatic conditions, the disaster has three features.  Firstly, high frequency. Big flood occurs once-in-two-years in average. Secondly, wide disaster-affected area. Over 2/3 of China’s territory is prone to flood and waterlogging. Thirdly, serious loss and damage caused by flood and waterlogging. The middle and lower reaches of the seven major river basins, including Yangtze River and Yellow River, are the most economically-developed area in China. However, 50% of the national population who lives there is threatened by floods.

The Chinese Government and people have always attached great importance to flood and waterlogging prevention and management. Thanks to unremitting efforts, a comprehensive flood control and disaster mitigation system has taken shape in China. At present, all major large rivers are able to fight against floods of the biggest magnitude since 1950s. Middle and small rivers can withstand floods with a return period of 5 to 10 years. As a result, China can effectively control serious flood and waterlogging disasters.

With population growth and socio-economic progress, China begins to face new situation in flood management and severe challenges. First, competition between man and water for land is serious. Flood discharge capacity of rivers and storage capacity of lakes shrink, which deprives the “way out” of big floods. Second, highly-flood-prone area overlaps densely-populated areas and economically-developed area, which induces more flood risks. Third, floods are intertwined with droughts and water shortage, water pollution and soil erosion, sometimes even alternate, which makes flood control far more complicated and present new challenges to traditional flood control method.

II. Implementing scientific flood management for harmonious coexistence between man and nature

Experience and lessons drawn from China’s flood control and prevention have repeatedly proven that the more constraint on water, the more serious damage will be brought by flood. Flood is a natural phenomena and damage is inevitable. Highly-flood-prone areas situate along the middle and lower reaches of rivers, where the possibility to adjust the already dense population and developed economy is very small. With population increase, the conflict between people and water for land becomes sharper. Floods have both natural and social attributes. In order to balance human development and providing way out for flood, and reduce flood damage, we must adhere to harmonious coexistence between man and nature. As required by sustainable development, China is undertaking strategic adjustment in flood control and disaster mitigation, the core of which is to implement scientific flood management in accordance with the concept of harmonious coexistence of man and nature.

The adjustments are reflected in the following six aspects.

1. Build a comprehensive flood-control system so that flood control capacity is adaptable to socio-economic development. Structural measures including dykes, reservoirs and flood detention basins are the basis for flood control. At present, flood control engineering systems are primarily established on the main courses of major rivers in China. However, most major tributaries and small and medium-sized rivers are not well trained, where construction of flood detention and storage basins should be accelerated, and flood control projects be reinforced. Meanwhile, non-structural measures including flood forecasting, monitoring, regulating should be enhanced, in order to improve comprehensive flood control capacity in cooperation with structural measures.

2. Regulate human activities so that socio-economic development pattern caters to the demand of flood disaster prevention. If we look at the surface, it is flood disaster that brings damage to human being. However, the root cause of flood disaster is poorly-coordinated relation between man and water. Therefore, we should transform from solely emphasizing flood control to regulating both man and water, and controlling human activities. When developing economy and society, we need to adjust industrial and agricultural layout, prevent squeezing into flood releasing river course, and protect river and lake ecosystems as well as swamps and wetlands. In areas where water and land resources are over-exploited, we should follow the demands of flood control by implementing measures of ‘retreating from slope farmland to restore forest’ to reduce soil erosion control, and ‘retreating from reclaimed farmland back to lake’ to make more room for flood.

3. Implement flood risk management so that the economy and society can accept reasonable flood risks. In order to solve the problem of ‘big population and limited land’ and ease the pressure of too much demand on water and land resources, we have to bear certain risks. The Chinese Government starts to introduce the concept of risk management into flood control, exerts great efforts to establish and improve flood risk control and compensation system, flood insurance and social security and assistance system, the objective of which is to share, sustain and mitigate flood risks, and eventually control the risk within the sustainability of economy and society.

4. Make rational use of floodwater resources to alleviate water shortage in China.  70% of water resources in China are floodwater, the utilization of which is vital in solving water shortage problem. We are now exploring methodologies and approaches that can not only guarantee flood control safety, but also maximize floodwater utilization.

5. Optimize flood control measures so that flood disaster prevention conforms to the protection of river ecosystem. Flood plays a critical role in balancing river basin ecosystem. We shall make river management master plans scientifically, build flood control projects rationally, optimize flood regulation, allocate water resources in both time and space and promote improvement and restoration of ecology and environment. Great attention shall be paid to the potential negative impacts of water projects on ecology.

6. Encourage public participation so that flood control and disaster mitigation pattern agrees with the social attributes of flood disasters. Flood control and disaster mitigation requires wide involvement of all walks of life, who would share the responsibilities and risks of flood control. Promotion should be reinforced to increase public awareness and capability of disaster prevention and mitigation, and to encourage the whole society to participate in flood control management. 

III. Short-term Objectives and Tasks of flood prevention and management in China

The short-term objectives of flood prevention and management in China are: within 5 years, major rivers meet flood control standard defined in the river basin master plans; mega-cities, large and medium-sized cities are able to defend against floods with return periods of 100 years, 50~100 years and 20~50 years respectively; key sea dykes can withstand tide wave of 50 year frequency plus storm at a scale of 8-12.

The recent task of flood prevention and management in China is to establish and improve five systems as soon as we can:

-         Flood control structural system with adequate standard and reasonable functions. To strengthen construction of embankments, reservoirs, detention and storage basins and harness of river courses, to optimize project layout and operation, and fully exploit comprehensive benefits of flood control structural system.

-         Scientific and standardized management system. Flood management system shall be primarily set up in major river basins and regions to reinforce management of flood protection areas, flood detention and storage basins and flood plains, to improve the capacity and performance of hydrological forecasting and monitoring, flood regulation and decision-making.

-         Effective social security system. To clarify flood control responsibilities and assign the tasks to government agencies, to mobilize the public and combine efforts of armed forces and citizens, and gradually establish a society-based financing and security system.

-         Improved policy and legislative system. To coordinate the rights and interests of all according to laws and regulations, protect the interests of the public, regulate socio-economic activities, and standardize emergent project construction, flood regulation, disaster relief, and economic compensation and so on.

-         Technology-based support system. To research and popularize scientific, practical and advanced flood control technologies, materials and equipments so as to realize technological modernization in flood management.

Adhering to harmonious coexistence of man and nature is the reflection by human beings on the future. A good relationship between people and water is of great significance to sustainable development. Though flood control and disaster mitigation in China still has long way to go, we are full of confidence.