Chinese geologists have detected a large-scale underground
reservoir in the country's largest desert.
The underground reservoir has a storage capacity of 36 billion
cubic meters, almost the amount of the Three Gorges Reservoir under
construction, said experts at the China Geological Survey
Bureau (CGSV).
The amazing find in the Taklimakan Desert, or "Sea of Death," in Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region is big step in China's water-finding
efforts in its most arid northwest.
The CGSV's preliminary data show that more than one billion cubic
meters of underground water is exploitable annually from more than
50 water sources and water-rich places, the equivalent of building
10 major reservoirs in the drought-ridden area.
The geologists have also found fresh water that can be drunk
directly in a 140-square meter groundwater distribution area in
east Lop Nur, a renowned wilderness dubbed as the "forbidden zone
of life" in Xinjiang.
China began its search for water in 1949 in the dry area and
stepped up the efforts since launching the Western development
drive in 2000.
Over the past two years, the country has invested some 40 million
yuan (US$4.8 million) in prospecting groundwater in the northwest,
where many crucial projects like the transmission of electricity
and gas from west to east are being built.
"We have by and large found out the basic situation of underground
water resources in the surface layers of the northwest after more
than 50 years of prospecting and research," said CGSV deputy
director Wang Min.
"Our findings can provide a hydrological and geological foundation
for the solution of civilian, industrial and agricultural water
consumption," he added.
The drought-struck northwest includes all of Xinjiang, Qinghai,
Gansu, Ningxia and parts of Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi
regions, accounting for one third of China's territory.
More than 10 million people out of the 90 million-plus people
living in the northwest still suffer from inadequate drinking
water.
In
their quest for water resources, scientists have resorted to high
and new technologies like remote sensing, isotope methods, ancient
geology research, computer science and new drilling technology.
Well drilling by the state has resolved the problem of drinking
water for about 500,000 people in the west, said Jiang Jianjun, a
geology and environment official of the Ministry of Land
and Resources.
Jiang added that the drilling had also encouraged local people to
strive for multi-channel investment to find highly needed
water.
However, water experts cautioned that the groundwater resources are
still limited and the exploitation should be handled in a
scientific and reasonable way.
They said it is necessary to sustain the water resource usage since
the exploitation of groundwater will climb to three to 10 times the
amount of its current consumption by 2010.
(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2003)