"Finally I can sleep untroubled at night," said Liu Yuanman, who settled down in a new village in Huarong County, Yueyang City in central China's Hunan Province in 1998 after leaving his old home in Xiaojicheng, on the banks of Dongting Lake.

"I no longer need to be alert when the flood season comes," he explained.

Liu is one of the many people moved from the edges of Dongting Lake, thanks to a project which relocates people from dangerous embankments on its shores. In the past, in order to increase their land, people built banks encircling part of the lake. On these areas of land they built their homes. The effect of man's intrusion was disastrous: It blocked the lake's natural water flow and caused ever-worsening floods during the rainy season. The newly formed project, to restore the land around the lake, played a vital role in preventing Dongting from flooding this year.

The project, launched by the Hunan provincial government, is aimed at diverting water, and building new towns for relocated people.

Some 152 similar embankment settlements are scheduled to be removed. They cover a total area of 25,785 hectares and are currently home to 215,194 people.

By the end of August 2002, the relocation of 116 embankments, about 17,066 hectares, had been completed, 101 of which are already being used to retain water.

The project has brought both economic and ecological benefits. Besides relieving the pressure on the main dyke, it has also decreased the manpower, money, and materials needed for disaster relief.

In Dawanluweichang Village alone, 67 families left their embankment homes and built their new village with a government grant of 17,000 yuan (US$2,050) for each family.

Zhang Xiaoping, from nearby Jianshe embankment, but now settled in Huarong County, has an annual income of 60,000 (US$7,250) from flower growing on nearly one hectare of land.

Chen Jinggui, who comes from the same embankment area as Zhang, has also prospered since moving. He opened a restaurant offering the typical family dishes of farmers, to visitors.

The Hunan provincial government aims to restore Dongting Lake to its original size of 50 years ago when it covered an area of 4,350 square kilometers.

(China Daily September 12, 2002)