A senior official with the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Tuesday stressed that great efforts must be made to ensure the country's reservoirs stand solidly amid the coming floods.
Wang Shucheng, Minister of Water Resources and vice-director of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said that according to weather forecast, intensified rainfall will hit certain areas of the country, which will bring severe threats to reservoirs in those places.
China has entered its annual flood season, which normally begins in June and ends in September. To date, intensified rainfall has hit some lakes and rivers, pushing water levels above warning lines. Some reservoirs have started to contain floodwater in a bid to relieve the local severe flood situation.
China has 86,000 reservoirs, of which 30,413 are threatened, making up 36 percent of the total.
In recent years the Chinese government has earmarked 11.2 billion yuan to repair and reinforce threatened reservoirs located in densely populated areas, economic centers and communications hubs.
By the end of 2002, 441 of 770 of the country's most threatened reservoirs had been strengthened.
(People's Daily July 9, 2003)
