Xi calls for focus on water security
President Xi calls for strengthening management of river resources, ecological work
President Xi Jinping set the tone for the future development of China’s mega water diversion project at a symposium on May 14, a meeting analysts said will pave the way for the construction of a national network of water resources and stronger water conservation measures in the next five years.
Xi convened the symposium on advancing the follow-up development of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in Nanyang, Henan province, during which he set out requirements for the next phase of the diversion project.
China must accelerate steps to develop a national network of water resources and improve the nation’s capacity to ensure water security across the board in the next five years, said Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
He highlighted the need for the nation to refine its system of allocating water resources as well as its flood prevention and disaster relief system in different river basins in order to provide a strong guarantee of water security for its modernization drive.
The development of a national water supply network is one of the major infrastructure programs outlined in the nation’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).
Zuo Depeng, an associate professor in the College of Water Resources at Beijing Normal University, said the meeting presided over by Xi charted the course for China’s water diversion projects in the next five years.
The meeting could expedite the planning and construction for the next phase of the east and central routes, as well as the western route, which is still in the pre-construction stage, he said.
“Another important policy signal is that there could be stronger water conservation measures in areas that receive the diverted water supply,” he said.
Xi has closely followed the progress of the water diversion project in recent years, presiding over meetings to study the issue of water security and issuing a number of important instructions in this regard.
He visited a hydraulic facility in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, in November, where he stressed the importance of continuing with the project, refining its construction plans and making the eastern route essential to the better allocation of water resources and ensuring water security.
The symposium on May 14 was held after Xi traveled to the Danjiangkou Reservoir and surveyed the construction, management and operations of the central route of the project.
The construction of the first phase of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project — which transfers water from the Yangtze River and its tributaries to irrigate arid regions in the north — was started in 2002 for the project’s eastern route and in 2003 for its central route.
The central route began supplying water to northern China in 2014, and the eastern route became operational in 2013. So far, they have diverted over 40 billion cubic meters of water to northern China and directly benefited 120 million people.
Xi spoke highly of the parts of the project that had already been put into operation. Facts have proved that the CPC Central Committee’s decision to build the mega project was totally correct, he said.
The central route has now become the pillar of water supply for Beijing, Tianjin and major cities in Hebei and Henan provinces, improving the water quality and helping to replenish excessively exploited groundwater, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.
During the symposium, Xi underlined the need for China to get stronger in water resources management, implement a new development philosophy, foster a new development paradigm, endeavor to establish a national unified market and promote coordinated growth between northern and southern China.
It is important to maximize the comprehensive efficiency of projects, determine the scale and overall distribution of projects based on the long-term demand and supply of water resources and resolutely guard against threats to environmental security, he said.
Xi reiterated the significance of prioritizing water conservation, saying that saving water should be the fundamental solution for areas that receive diverted water supplies. He added that the urban planning, industry structure and population scale of cities must be refined based on their capacity of water resources. He called for measures to coordinate project investment and efficiency, with stronger measures to compare different plans in order to minimize land acquisition and resettlement.
To boost ecological protection, Xi called for a holistic approach to conserving mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands, with steps to enhance the conservation of headwaters in both the Yangtze and Yellow rivers.
He noted that the overall plan of the mega project had been promulgated almost 20 years ago, and the nation’s latest challenges called for new requirements in terms of an enhanced and optimized water supply.
The president stressed the significance of ramping up top-level design and improving strategic arrangements to guide and advance follow-up projects, saying the plans and designs must stand up to the test of history and practice.
Zhang Yongqiang, a researcher on hydrology and water resources at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the South-to-North Water Diversion Project will provide a fundamental solution to the water shortage in North China, especially in areas along the Yellow River.
He noted that there is still immense potential for water conservation in the agricultural sector as irrigation takes up the majority of water use in northern provincial areas, adding that the use of water-saving agriculture technology and adjustments in crop structure could help reduce water wastage.
Zhang said the symposium on May 14 could expedite the planning for the long-awaited western route of the mega project, which seeks to divert water from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to drought-ridden northwestern China.
Wang Guangqian, an academician in the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor on the regulation of rivers at Tsinghua University, said in an interview in March that the western route, upon its completion, could divert about 40 billion cubic meters of water to the Yellow River to quench the thirst for water in its river basin areas.
The western route, which must traverse high mountains and areas with complex geographical conditions in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, could require a total investment of 1.1 trillion yuan ($170.8 billion) over 15 years, he said.
However, the diverted water will help transform the deserts and sandy barren lands in the upper reach of the Yellow River into arable land and unleash the potential for cities along the river to become megacities, he said.
The symposium was held after Xi made an inspection trip to Xichuan county on May 13 to learn about the management and operation of the middle route of the mega project as well as the resettlement of migrants.
Xi called for concrete steps to ensure the safety of the project, the security of the water supply and the quality of water, and pledged continuous support for the development of the reservoir area.
The protection of the environment of the water source area must be seen as the top priority, he said.