Since July, the Yangtze River Basin has experienced high temperature and little rainfall, the inflow water has been dry, the water level of rivers and lakes has continued to decline, and severe summer and autumn droughts have occurred in the Yangtze River Basin.

In order to cope with the drought, the Ministry of Water Resources and the relevant provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Basin have studied and formulated a joint scheduling plan for drought relief and scientifically scheduling water conservancy projects.

Various localities have taken comprehensive measures such as drilling wells, lifting water, building weirs, and extending pipeline networks according to local conditions, which effectively reduced the impact and losses caused by the drought.

  What is the current drought situation?

How will the drought develop in the future?

Will it affect autumn crops and drinking water in urban and rural areas?

How will the overall consideration be given to scientifically dispatching reservoirs in the Yangtze River Basin?

In response to these issues, the relevant person in charge of the water conservancy department responded.

  Drought situation remains severe

  In the past few days, due to the combined effect of continuous high temperature and low rainfall and the lack of water from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the water level of Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in my country, has continued to decline.

As of 8:00 on September 6, the water level at Duchang Station of Poyang Lake was 7.97 meters and the water level at Xingzi Station was 7.99 meters.

  "The extreme drought has had a serious impact on people's drinking water, agricultural production and ecology." Wang Chun, director of the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Water Resources, introduced that since late June, the average rainfall in Jiangxi Province has been 178 mm, and the evaporation is 2% of the rainfall. times.

The province's 2,077 reservoirs are below the dead water level, accounting for 20%; 44,500 mountain ponds have dried up, accounting for 22%; 25 rivers over 10 square kilometers have been cut off, and the affected area of ​​crops has reached 8.836 million mu.

  In response to the drought, under the unified deployment of the Ministry of Water Resources, since August 16, Jiangxi Province has implemented the "Special Action for Joint Dispatching of Poyang Lake Reservoirs to Fight Drought and Ensure Water Supply".

Overall consideration of crop types, irrigation needs, water source allocation and expected water availability, instructing reservoirs to make water use plans and irrigated areas to accurately undertake upstream water supply, accumulatively replenishing 887 million cubic meters of downstream water, guaranteeing 5.24 million people and 3.29 million mu of farmland The total water demand of the lake increased by 225 million cubic meters.

  The drought in Jiangxi is a microcosm of the drought in the provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Basin.

Since July, rainfall and inflow of water in the Yangtze River Basin have been seriously low. The water levels of the main streams in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, as well as Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake have continued to decline. The most extensive and severe hydrological drought has occurred in more than 60 years. and autumn grain growth.

In the face of rare drought, the relevant provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Basin actively prevent and fight drought, and minimize the losses caused by drought.

  "At present, the drought situation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is still developing further." Liu Zhiyu, deputy director of the Information Center of the Ministry of Water Resources, analyzed that it is expected that the rainfall in the Yangtze River Basin will continue to be less in the middle and late September. 20% to 50% less, the inflow of rivers continues to be low, the water levels of rivers and lakes continue to decline, and the pressure of reservoir water storage is relatively high at the end of the flood season.

Looking forward to October, the rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is still significantly low, and there may be consecutive droughts in summer and autumn in Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui and other places, and the drought resistance situation in the Yangtze River basin is still severe.

  Coordinate and dispatch water supply to downstream

  Water conservancy projects are important tools for flood control and drought relief, and scientific scheduling of water conservancy projects is an effective and key measure for drought relief.

  On August 16, in response to the fact that autumn crops such as rice in the Yangtze River Basin are in a critical period of irrigation water demand and the water demand is large, the Ministry of Water Resources implemented the special action of "Joint Dispatching of Reservoirs Groups in the Yangtze River Basin for Drought Relief and Water Supply", dispatching reservoir groups in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Dongting The lake water system reservoir group and the Poyang Lake water system reservoir group have supplied a total of 3.57 billion cubic meters of water to the downstream, effectively improving the water intake conditions in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and along the two lakes.

Among them, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces have diverted more than 2.6 billion cubic meters of water, benefited 13.85 million people from rural water supply, and guaranteed 28.56 million mu of irrigated farmland in 356 large and medium-sized irrigation areas.

  "Water demand for crop irrigation is cyclical. Mid-September is the peak and critical period of irrigation water for crops such as middle and late rice in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The demand for agricultural irrigation water is large and concentrated." Liu Weiping, deputy minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, introduced that after scientific demonstration , the Ministry of Water Resources decided to start the special action of "Joint Dispatching of Reservoirs in the Yangtze River Basin for Drought Relief and Water Supply" from 8:00 on September 12.

The reservoir group in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River with the Three Gorges Reservoir as the core, the "Four Rivers" reservoir group in the Dongting Lake water system, and the "Five Rivers" reservoir group in the Poyang Lake water system in Ganfuxin and Raoxiu are scheduled to replenish water for the downstream, with a planned water replenishment of 1.78 billion cubic meters. above.

  The reporter learned that this special action is mainly aimed at the arid regions of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Dongting Lake Basin, and the Poyang Lake Basin, that is, the "one river and two lakes" dry regions.

While ensuring the safety of drinking water for the people, it focuses on ensuring the water demand for irrigation of 356 large and medium-sized irrigation areas, 14.6 million mu of medium and late rice, as well as the water demand for autumn grain in many small irrigation areas.

  "At present, the outflow of the Three Gorges Reservoir is 8,000 cubic meters per second per day on average. From September 14, the outflow of the Three Gorges Reservoir will be dispatched to increase water supply downstream at an average of 9,000 cubic meters per second per day. Water supply to ensure the change of water demand for autumn grain harvest, timely adjust the outflow of the Three Gorges Reservoir, and plan to replenish more than 500 million cubic meters of water to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.” Wu Daoxi, deputy director of the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources, introduced that the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Commission will make up for the release of water. Carry out accurate forecasts and guide the provinces along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to dispatch more water conservancy projects such as culverts, gates and pumping stations, and strive to maximize the water replenishment benefits of this special operation.

  Preliminary analysis shows that through a new round of special actions, the rapid decline of the water level in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River can be effectively alleviated, and the water levels at Shashi, Chenglingji, Hankou and Hukou Stations in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River can be raised by 0.9 to 0.1 meters, which is the highest level in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Create more favorable conditions for drought resistance and water diversion, ensure the safety of water supply in urban and rural areas along the main stream of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Dongting Lake water system, and the Poyang Lake water system, and ensure the seasonal irrigation water demand for autumn crops.

  Be prepared for drought and long-term drought

  Autumn grain accounts for three-quarters of the annual grain output, and stabilizing the autumn grain is of great significance to ensure a bumper grain harvest throughout the year.

Large and medium-sized irrigated areas are the main battlefields for grain production in my country.

It is understood that there are 356 large and medium-sized irrigation areas in Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin, with surface water as the water source, with an irrigated area of ​​28.56 million mu.

  "At present, more than 7.2 million mu of medium-sized rice in large and medium-sized irrigated areas are in the filling stage, and more than 7.4 million mu of late rice is in the stage of jointing and booting to heading and flowering." Zhang Dunqiang, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture, Water and Hydropower of the Ministry of Water Resources, told reporters that the water supply to the reservoirs in the Yangtze River Basin will be accurately connected. , using every cubic meter of water on the edge, the water conservancy department actively responded and took firm and powerful measures to minimize the impact of the drought.

  On the one hand, establish a ledger to accurately grasp the water consumption.

According to the crop growth period, the water demand period and water demand of 356 large and medium-sized irrigation areas were further found out, and the water source and water intake location, water intake method, minimum water intake level of pumping station, and elevation of the bottom of the diversion gate were accurately grasped in irrigation areas and rural centralized water supply projects. , to establish a detailed project status and water use ledger.

  On the other hand, docking needs and guiding rational water distribution.

Guide the relevant provincial and municipal water conservancy departments to scientifically analyze the water supply of water supply projects and the water demand for crop irrigation, and further calculate the inflow of the main stream of the Yangtze River and the water diversion capacity of 117 large and medium-sized irrigation areas. The water demand of the irrigation area, the available water of the 35 reservoirs involved in the scheduling of the Poyang Lake water system, and the water demand of 113 large and medium-sized irrigation areas, maximize the combined drought resistance benefits of many water sources.

  "After figuring out the 'water account' family background, establish a daily water use scheduling mechanism for large and medium-sized irrigation areas and rural water supply projects, and combine with hydrological and meteorological forecast information to roll out the estimated water diversion and transfer volume for each water intake, and strive to release water on demand, Save water and provide water source guarantee for autumn grain harvest and urban and rural water supply." Zhang Dunqiang said.

  At present, the drought defense situation in the Yangtze River Basin is still severe.

Liu Weiping said that the Ministry of Water Resources will make preparations to fight severe and prolonged droughts, coordinate current and later water demand for drought resistance, strive to increase reservoir water storage, scientifically dispatch water conservancy projects, and ensure the safety of water supply and shipping in the Yangtze River Basin.