The scorching sun is in the sky, and the Yangtze River is "thin".
This "China's largest river" with a total length of more than 6,300 kilometers and a drainage area of more than 1.8 million square kilometers has lost its former majestic atmosphere under the high temperature that lasted for more than 40 days.
The Huanghu River, a first-level tributary, "returned dry during the flood season", and the river was cut off; the water area of Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake was significantly reduced, "shrinking" by nearly 70% within a month.
Up to now, 9 provinces (cities) including Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangxi have been affected by drought with an area of 32.99 million mu of cultivated land, and 2.46 million people and 350,000 large livestock have been affected by the drought.
Rarely high temperature "roasted" water supply in the Yangtze River Basin, a "battle" to ensure supply and income began.
Since August 16, the Ministry of Water Resources has implemented the "Joint Dispatching Action for Drought Relief and Water Supply Protection for Reservoirs in the Yangtze River Basin", and many places have also taken practical and feasible water supply measures to ensure the basic drinking water for the masses, and through measures such as drilling wells and pumping water , trying his best to "quench his thirst" for the dry farmland.
Hejiang, Sichuan
The reservoir bottomed out, and the firefighting sent more than 1,000 tons of water to the villagers
Half an hour before the arrival of the fire truck to deliver water, at the temporary water intake point in Shuihegou Village, Hejiang County, Luzhou City, Sichuan Province, a long queue of large-capacity empty buckets was already lined up.
For a month, this scene has been played out every day.
It hasn't rained for two months, and the reservoir in the village has long since bottomed out.
Although it is located in the Xiaocao River basin, a tributary of the Yangtze River, the high temperature for days has "steamed" the common water source of the village.
At first, some villagers rode motorcycles to fetch water dozens of miles away to save themselves, while others dug holes in the ravines to get water.
However, the pits all over the ravine are dug deeper and deeper, and the daily water shortage is still difficult to fill. "I haven't encountered this kind of drought in decades."
Zhang Huande, the village party secretary, said that fortunately, the corn planted in the village had been harvested before and was not affected much, but the most urgent thing in the village was daily drinking water.
Fortunately, after receiving help from the villagers, the Hejiang County Fire Brigade began to deliver water to the village every day. Each household can receive 3 buckets, enough to drink for three days.
"Before each water delivery, the team members will carefully clean the water tanks of fire trucks, water guns and other water supply equipment." According to Yao Yunhui, the third-level commander of the Hejiang County Fire Rescue Brigade, there are 5 fire stations in the county, and each station sends a fire station. The car leaves at 6:00 in the morning and closes at 8:00 in the evening to deliver water to the surrounding villages without water.
Up to now, more than 240 fire trucks have been dispatched, with more than 600 person-times, delivering more than 1,200 tons of water to villagers in various towns and villages.
Hejiang County is mountainous, and it often takes more than an hour to travel from one village to another.
Yao Yunhui said that due to the increasing demand for water by the villagers, the situation of insufficient water storage by fire trucks has become more frequent, and it is often necessary to go to a nearby fire hydrant halfway to add water.
When encountering a village without a fire hydrant, the fire brigade has to return to the town to fetch water, which takes more than two hours for a round trip.
As a result, the water delivery time has been extended, and closing the team in the early morning has become a common practice for the team members.
What worries firefighters most is not that the road is bumpy and long, but that they encounter a fire in the middle. At this time, the water delivery work is often forced to be interrupted.
According to Yao Yunhui's recollection, one day in mid-August, the fire station in Baisha Town, Hejiang County went back and forth in the process of "fighting fire - sending water - fighting fire".
"The firefighters worked overtime to deliver water to the villagers, and I called to thank the relevant departments." Two days ago, Yao Yunhui received a feedback from the citizen's hotline. He said, "In my heart, we feel that our efforts are worthwhile."
Hunan Huarong
Ouchi River cut-off villagers dredged silt and pumped water to high paddy fields
In mid-July, Zhang Jinhong, the village party secretary of Gaoshan Village, Liyuxu Town, Huarong County, Yueyang City, Hunan Province found that the Ouchi River had stopped flowing.
"The river that was originally 4,000 meters long and 33 meters deep is now only the river channel." Zhang Jinhong told the Beijing News reporter that the Ouchi River is one of the "four mouths" of the Yangtze River entering Dongting Lake, "I have never seen the Ouchi River before. The Chi River stopped flowing."
According to Zhang Jinhong, Gaoshan Village has 5,800 mu of rice planted, 90% of which relies on Ouchi River for irrigation.
When the drought happened, it was the jointing and booting stage of rice, "but at that time, our 9 pumps could no longer pump water."
Once the water shortage will directly affect the rice harvest, Zhang Jinhong immediately organized more than 40 party members and village cadres in Gaoshan Village to use 5 excavators to dig out the silt in the river, so that the water from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River can refill the Ouchi River.
Immediately afterwards, they used water pumps to carry out secondary and tertiary irrigation, extending the pipeline to 60 meters, and the river water was finally led to the high paddy fields.
However, the high temperature of 37°C-41°C for the past few days has caused the river water to dry up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In order to grasp the drought situation in time, Zhang Jinhong organized a patrol team, divided into three shifts, with 2 people in each shift patrolling for 8 hours.
"The patrol mission is to ensure that the water pumps are working normally, and at the same time to check whether the water has been pumped up and irrigated into the farmland." On August 10, Gaoshan Village added another 6 water pumps for irrigation.
"We found that the drought was earlier and we responded in a timely manner. About 90% of the rice in the village can guarantee normal production." Zhang Jinhong said that in May, the people's government of Liyuxu Town held a mobilization meeting. At the meeting, experts said that "the Ouchi River is extremely There may be a drought," he was glad he had taken this into his heart.
"In another 20 days, the rice will be mature. To put it closer, in another 10 days, after the booting and heading stages, the rice will no longer need water, and our drought resistance will be successful." Zhang Jinhong is full of expectations.
Jiangxi Duchang
Poyang Lake "shrinks" farms repair canals to divert water to maintain rice production
Xiaoyang Farm, Zhouxi Town, Duchang County, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province is located by the Poyang Lake. In the memory of the farm manager Zeng Aiguo, there was only one light rain in the whole July.
Jiangxi is one of the 13 major grain-producing provinces in the country, and the area around Poyang Lake is the main grain-producing area in Jiangxi.
Since the beginning of July, Zeng Aiguo found that "the water level of Poyang Lake has dropped very fast, and it can drop by 20 centimeters a day."
Zeng Aiguo has worked in Xiaoyang Farm for 16 years, managing nearly 100 farmers and 5,000 mu of rice.
At first, farmers followed the convention and thought that "the time has come, it will still rain".
However, the sky in Zhouxi Town is always clear and cloudless.
Due to the hot weather, rice pollination was not satisfactory. Zeng Aiguo found that "some rice husks look full, but when you pinch them, they are empty."
In mid to late July, the surface of Poyang Lake began to shrink.
On July 19, Zhouxi Town held a grain planting representative meeting to study and judge the drought resistance situation.
The next day, Zeng Aiguo summoned farm workers, activated two excavators, and began digging canals.
For five days, they worked from 7:00 in the morning to 7:00 in the evening, "pulling" a 300-meter-long canal from the Poyang Lake to the farm reservoir.
Since the canal is higher than the trench and cannot directly divert water, the farm has purchased 8 more water pumps, which work 24 hours a day.
"Water has become precious." Zeng Aiguo said with emotion, "In the past, the paddy rice near the reservoir in the upstream was flooded, but now the water is drained downstream after only a few centimeters of irrigation." When it was blocked, Zeng Aiguo also sent patrols to check in the morning and evening.
However, the high temperature has accelerated the evaporation of water. "In the past, irrigation could keep the land moist for six or seven days, but now the water is gone in three or five days." Zeng Aiguo told the Beijing News reporter that Xiaoyang Farm has 3,000 mu of rice. Distributed in the downstream, the upstream reservoir can no longer guarantee the water for the downstream rice. To this end, on August 21, the farm added a 400-meter-long canal and added 8 pumps to divert Poyang Lake water to the downstream reservoir.
The two canals are pumping water 24 hours a day, and Xiaoyang Farm has kept 80% of its rice production.
According to Zeng Aiguo, the first crop of rice is already mature, with a yield of 1,300 to 1,400 catties per mu, and the second crop is also growing well.
"The grains laid this year are the same as in previous years, with good quality, gloss and taste." Zeng Aiguo breathed a sigh of relief.
Beijing News reporter Xu Qiaoli intern Wang Rui