Statistics from the Buha River Ria Hydrometric Station show that water levels at Qinghai Lake have already risen by 30 centimeters this summer. With evaporation rates three times higher than water accumulation, Qinghai Lake should enjoy at least another 10 centimeters rise in water levels by the end of the year. The phenomenon of falling water levels at Qinghai Lake may have been reversed this year by improved ecological protection measures.

Pei Shengshan, head of the Buha River Ria Hydrometric Station, said, “Water levels at Qinghai Lake have fallen at an average rate of between 6 to 8 centimeters per year for the past 20 years, according to the hydrometric station’s long-term survey. In years of drought, water levels have declined even more dramatically.” For instance, the water levels fell by some 20 centimeters in 2001.

However, the lake has risen by comparatively high degree this year. The main reason for this remarkable change is that the amount of precipitation collected from the lake’s surrounding regions has increased markedly. Meanwhile, eco-protection projects, such as the return of 226,000-mu (37,750 acres) of farmland to forests and grasslands, are now beginning to take effect.

Buha River is the largest tributary of the Qinghai Lake, supplying more than half the lake’s total water supply. This year, considerable precipitation has been recorded in the river’s valleys, and the seasonal floods arrived a month earlier than usual, commencing on June 6. Water levels didn’t stop rising until August 20.

The runoff from adjoining areas has increased by as much as three to four times previous years, giving the Buha River the third highest water levels in recorded history. The concentration of such large amounts of water has seen the water levels of Qinghai Lake rise rapidly this year.

The leader of Kangtsa’s Quanji community, near Bird Island, provided on site evidence of this year’s rise in water levels to a reporter from People’s Daily. He pointed out both last year’s and this year’s water marks on the banks of the river indicating that the body of water had expanded by some 7 to 8 meters.

(china.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, September 20, 2002)