The Hongya Reservoir, located between the Badanjilin and Tengli
deserts, in Minqin in northeast China's
Gansu
Province, is a project that has a direct bearing on 200,000
people's livelihood. It also has enjoyed a great reputation as
"Asia's First Desert Reservoir." With the local ecological
environment getting worse and the two deserts expanding in recent
years, the reservoir has suffered an invasion of wind-borne sand.
Because of continuous drought in recent years, large stretches of
forest and grassland around the reservoir have disappeared or begun
to wither; the earth's surface in the forward desert areas has
become porous, and drifting sand is approaching the reservoir,
according to its management sources. Now, the two deserts are less
than one km away from the reservoir on average, with the closest
distance measuring in several dozen meters.
Sandstorms have become frequent. "Lots of gaps in the foliage cover
now make it easy for the reservoir to be attacked by wind and
sand," said the management source. "When sandstorms approach, the
wind is so strong that several tons of earth is dumped in the
reservoir."
Sandstorms not only damage the reservoir dam, but also reduced its
capacity. It is estimated that each year sandstorms dump 350,000
cubic meters of sand into the reservoir. Its average depth has been
reduced by nearly two meters, the water capacity dropping from 127
to 97 million cubic meters, and the silt volume reaching 30 million
cubic meters. The available water capacity is only 70 million cubic
meters.
Local people are deeply concerned because they know the importance
of the reservoir. Starting in 1958, the project, with three
construction periods and an investment of 25.1 million yuan, was
finally completed in 1997. Locals say that the reservoir is
responsible for the water supply of 250,000 people in 16 townships.
"No oasis or person in the area can survive without the reservoir,"
they added.
To
protect the project, local people have used wheat straw and planted
sacsaoul (Holoxylon ammodendron), red poplar, and Salix mongolica
to fix the sand and protect the ecological environment.
"Combating the invasion of the wind and sand here is a protracted
war. Nobody knows when it will succeed," said an official in charge
of the reservoir, looking at the sparse vegetation nearby.
(China.org.cn translated by Li Jingrong on June 19, 2003)