China plans to invest 155.4 billion yuan (US$19 billion) in the next 20 years to enhance flood control on the Huaihe River, a flood-prone river in east China.

More reservoirs will be built in the upper reaches of the river to control flood, according to a newly finished flood control plan for the river.

Water and soil preservation will also be carried out in those areas, it said.

The plan also includes treatment of riverways and banks in the middle reaches and enhancement of flood discharging capacity in the lower reaches of the river.

The 1,000-kilometer Huaihe River originates in central China's Henan Province and runs through Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces. The areas along the river have a history of flooding and droughts.

In 2003, heavy floods along the Huaihe River claimed at least 16 lives and caused more than 400,000 residents to be evacuated, with direct economic losses of 18.17 billion yuan (US$2.2 billion) in Anhui, Jiangsu and Henan.

"The 2003 heavy floods exposed problems in the flood control system of the river, such as the slowness in flood discharging and low standards of works in treating flood and waterlogging," said Qian Min, director of the Huaihe River Water Resources Commission.

The new plan will enable the river to meet a biggest flood in 100 years from current less than 50 years, according to Qian.

By the end of 2005, nine of the 19 key flood control and water treatment projects for the river, set by the State Council in 1991, had been completed at a cost of 23.9 billion yuan (US$3 billion). The rest are expected to complete next year.

(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2006)