Preparing for the Flood Sichuan Hydrology continues to improve the level of flood and drought disaster prevention

Chengdu, 5 May (Zhongxin Net) -- In May, Sichuan was flooded. According to the forecast of the Sichuan Hydrological Center, the flood season (May to September) in the western part of the Sichuan Basin this year will be heavy, and there will be regional heavy rainfall and flooding processes in the eastern and central parts of the Sichuan Basin. Specifically, medium and high floods may occur in the upper reaches of the Yalong River, the upper reaches of the Dadu River, the lower reaches of the Tsing Yi River, the upper reaches of the Tuo River, the Fujiang River and the Qu River, among which floods exceeding the warning level may occur in the lower reaches of the Tsing Yi River, the upper reaches of the Tuo River and the middle and lower reaches of the Fuji River.

As the "eyes and ears" of flood control, how will Sichuan's hydrological system cope with various emergencies during this year's flood season? At present, what is the state of preparedness for floods by hydrological departments in Sichuan Province? Recently, the Sichuan Hydrological Center organized a media intensive interview activity, visited the hydrological departments of Neijiang, Meishan and Chengdu, and visited the flood preparedness in various places.

At the Dengyingyan Hydrological Station in the specially built village of Guide Town, Zizhong County, Neijiang City, Sun Xiaobo, director of the hydrological monitoring office of the Neijiang Hydrological Center, is turning on the "Sichuan Province Flood and Drought Disaster Prevention Decision Support System" on his mobile phone to view real-time water level and flow data, and working with colleagues to study the encrypted monitoring scheme during the flood season.

"During this year's flood season, the Tuo River is expected to have medium-scale floods, and we must be prepared." Sun Xiaobo said that the Dengyingyan hydrological station was built in June 1953 and is an important national hydrological station and an important control station of the main stream of the Tuo River in the Yangtze River Basin. Although he is 6 years old, the Dengyingyan Hydrological Station is equipped with a variety of advanced flow measurement equipment such as cable light wave flow meter, remote control boat, video flow meter, etc., which has greatly improved the efficiency and accuracy of hydrological surveying and reporting.

Located in the operation station building of Pengshan Hydrological Station on the edge of the Min River in Pengshan District, Meishan City, Zheng Yanbing, director of the Pengshan Surveying and Reporting Center of Meishan Hydrological Center, is operating a flow meter on the hydrological cable test control platform to measure flow. As lead fish continue to dive, data indicators such as water depth and flow rate on the platform are constantly changing.

"In the past two years, through the implementation of the hydrological basic capacity improvement project, the capabilities of the Meishan Hydrological Center have been significantly improved." Luo Houpan, director of the Meishan Hydrology Center, said that in 2021, Sichuan raised funds to invest in the construction of the hydrological infrastructure capacity improvement project, and the Meishan project was the first to start construction in May last year and the first to pass the completion acceptance.

"The Hydrological Foundation Capacity Enhancement Project empowers our flood prevention and disaster mitigation efforts." Luo Houpan said that with the completion of the project, the Meishan Hydrological Center has basically achieved full coverage of the network of hydrological monitoring stations of major rivers and important small and medium-sized rivers in Meishan City, and an all-factor and full-scale monitoring system has basically formed.

It is understood that as of May 2023, 5, 15 new hydrology, water level and rainfall stations in Sichuan Province have been basically completed; 346 county-level hydrological monitoring and reporting centers equipped with unmanned aerial vehicles, telemetry ships and other emergency equipment have all been put in place; Among the 60 newly built hydrological inspection bases, the Zigong hydrological inspection base has carried out completion acceptance and entered the trial operation stage...

The 31st Summer Universiade will be held in Chengdu. At that time, Chengdu will also enter the critical period of "seven lower and eight upper" (late July to early August) flood control.

"Hydrology is mainly in the two aspects of flood control and water quality, providing support for the Universiade." Huang Bibo, deputy director of the Chengdu Hydrological Center and head of the water forecast office, said that the Hydrological Protection Universiade should be a good "water safety officer" and a "water doctor".

The staff of Dengyingyan Hydrological Station showed reporters the Sichuan flood and drought disaster prevention decision support system. Photo by He Xun

It is reported that in order to ensure water security during the Universiade, Chengdu Hydrology optimized the monitoring plan and early warning and forecasting scheme, and set up temporary hydrological monitoring stations in the main venues of the Universiade and adjacent rivers outside the Universiade Village to encrypt hydrological monitoring and do a good job as a "water safety officer" for flood prevention at the Universiade.

In addition, during the Chengdu Universiade, in order to ensure the quality of important points, important water landscapes and water environment, the Water Quality Monitoring Office of Chengdu Hydrological Center will be responsible for monitoring the water quality of important water bodies to evaluate the improvement effect of water supply (replenishment) water quality, and make every effort to do a good job in water quality and water environment monitoring and early warning and forecasting of water conditions in the main venues of the Universiade and Universiade Village.

"We are usually responsible for monitoring the water quality of important water sources in Chengdu, but during the Universiade, we have added some new water quality sampling points, including the frequency of sampling and testing items, and we will do our best to be the 'water doctor' of the Universiade." The relevant person in charge of the Chengdu Hydrological Center said.

It is understood that in order to deeply analyze the current situation of water quality in drinking water sources and provide data support for decision-making, Chengdu Water Quality Monitoring Center will focus on monitoring 7 state-controlled + nationally important water sources and 1 state-controlled water source within the scope of the Universiade, and increase the testing of other important water bodies of non-drinking water sources in the pre-competition preparation stage and the guarantee stage during the competition, so as to help the water supply (replenishment) guarantee task of important points, important water landscapes and water environment during the Universiade be successfully completed. (End)