Environmentalists are counting on a water diversion project to improve the habitat at the Zhalong Wetland, the largest national natural wetland reserve in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, where red-crowned cranes and other huge waterfowl live.

The project will channel 100 million cubic meters of water to an area plagued for several years by drought. It will be completed later this year.

Although 35 million cubic meters of water was temporarily diverted to the wetlands with existing water works last July, the wetland suffered a serious fire that left patches of the land dry.

Suo Lisheng, China's vice-minister of water resources, said he hopes the water transfer project will improve the habitat for all the wetlands' endangered species and, therefore, preserve biodiversity in the area.

There are only 15 varieties of red-crowned cranes with a combined population of 2,000 left in the world.

Nine of the varieties live in China, and six of those - numbering 346 in total - could until recently be exclusively found in the Zhalong National Natural Reserve.

The water diversion project is one of several now being carried out nationwide.

In Northwest China's arid Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 1.3 billion cubic meters of water have been released from Bosten (Bagrax) Lake three times since May 2000 to provide more than 704 million cubic meters of water into the lower reaches of the Tarim.

The additional water flowing into the lower reaches of China's longest inland river is expected to feed the dying desert poplars and shrubs and improve the overall ecological system.

To date, the underground water table downstream the river has risen by 3.15 metros to 5 meters, with more trees on 60,024 hectares (148,319 acres) along the river obtaining the water supplement.

The water diversion projects at the Zhalong National Nature Reserve and the Tarim River are examples of the Chinese Government's effort to optimize the water resources distribution.

China has developed an action plan ensuring the sustainability of social progress and economic development this century through sustainable development and use of its precious water resources.

The plan aims to supply enough water, particularly drinking water for China's 1.3 billion people and its ever-growing economy; control floods; guarantee grain security through irrigation; and improve the environment.

"It is of vital importance for China to help people live in harmony with nature and ensure sustainable development of the economy and society," Suo said.

Flood Control

A flood control and disaster reduction system will be established, according to the plan. So will a system for reliable supply and efficient use of water resources.

And water use among livelihood, production and ecology will be better balanced by establishing regional co-ordinating systems for their environmental protection.

Frequent floods, persistent catastrophic droughts, worsening pollution and rapid soil erosion have become the worst factors restricting development of China's economy.

Scarcity of water and excessive use of water have caused a series of environmental problems.

For example, some rivers have dried up in northern China, and the groundwater table has dropped drastically.

To curb such problems, China, a country where per capita water resources share (2,233 cubic meters) is only one quarter of the world's average must take a series of measures to realize a sustainable use of the resources, the plan said.

Some work has already been done, but it is not nearly enough.

Since 1992, China has constructed many key water resources projects to help relieve water shortages in several of the more than 400 problem cities.

Many running water plants have been extended, and many drinking water projects in small towns and rural areas have been constructed with an increase in annual water supply capacity by 70.46 billion million cubic meters.

(China Daily August 26, 2002)