On the morning of March 23, a themed project ‘providing water for humans and livestock; developing agricultural economy and improving the environment by using rainwater” carried out by Gansu Province was invited by the World Water Forum to participate in a meeting held in Japan. The project attracted great attention among representatives from more than 120 countries. The project from Gansu was ranked as one of ten prized programs and even won one of three top grade awards.

China has been facing serious water shortage problems that have caused great economic and environmental losses over the years. The water condition is known to be very bad in the loess plateau of Gansu.

Gansu is one of the driest and poorest regions in China, with an area of about 100, 000 square km. The annual precipitation reaches 420 mm. However, owing to the deep loess soil layer, which is characterized by a high vertical infiltration rate, and very low humidity, most of the rain is absorbed by the soil and then evaporates into the air. The runoff coefficient is only 0.05.

In 1995, the middle and eastern regions of Gansu Province suffered from a severe drought which had not happened for 60 years. More than three million people and over two million livestock were confronted with critical water shortage.

Supported by the government, every family in the middle and eastern parts of Gansu built two water cellars to collect rain for cooking and irrigation. Using aid from various social sectors, 520,000 water cellars were built and reconstructed in Gansu Province, solving the water problem for 1.31 million people and 1.18 livestock in 27 counties, as well as courtyard fields of 1,130 hectare.

In November 2001, 14.72 million yuan (US$1.77 million) had been raised by contribution activities for the water cellar program, which was designed for 12 provinces in western China. 19,520 water cellars were built thereafter, benefiting more than 100,000 villagers.

Gansu provincial government is spreading the rainwater-utilizing project throughout the entire dry land farm belt, aiming to cover 78% of the countryside. At the end of 2002, 1.944 million water cellars had been set up and a farmland area of 305,000 hectares developed into rainwater irrigation fields with a high water efficiency saving method.

The International Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (IRCSA) noted that, the technology and experience achieved by Gansu’s rainwater utilization project can be adapted not only to China, but to all countries and regions facing water shortage problems.

(China.org.cn Translated by Wang Zhiyong April 21, 2003)