Granary of the World Hit by Drought: Huge Investment in Farmland Water Conservancy Yields Limited Results
“I haven't been home since the start of summer, constantly repairing wells in various places, eating and sleeping at the work sites.” Xu Bingchang, the head of an engineering team who has been engaged in well-cleaning work in Henan for many years, told a reporter from the Huaxia Times wearily.
Henan, hailed as the “Granary of the World,” is experiencing its most severe drought in 63 years.
In order to meet Xu Bingchang, the reporter drove nearly 100 kilometers to “catch up with” him at a new well construction site he had just arrived at. The well that Xu Bingchang needed to repair is an old well drilled in the 1970s, located in Zhongwang Village, Shixiang Township, Changge City, and had to be put back into use because of this severe drought.
“In the past, well quality was not taken seriously. Last year, sometimes we wouldn't get a single well repair job in a month. Now after the severe drought, everyone is anxious.” Xu Bingchang said that the rare drought combined with uneven quality standards in water conservancy projects is affecting the effectiveness of drought relief efforts.
The Parched Central Plains
Zhongwang Village is fortunate to have old wells that can be repaired and reused, but persistent drought in Pingdingshan, Luoyang and other areas of Henan has already caused many places to see “nine out of ten wells dry.” In higher-elevation areas, even drinking water for people and livestock has become difficult, and autumn crops have no water for irrigation.
On August 14, this newspaper's reporter saw in multiple villages in the western part of Anliang Township, Jiaxian County, that in the farmland on both sides of the road, crops that should have been lush and green were now completely barren.
At the Shizigou Reservoir near Duangou Village in Anliang Township, the reservoir bed has already dried and cracked, and dead fish can occasionally be seen on the exposed, cracked earth. Currently, all 7 reservoirs in Anliang Township, including Shizigou Reservoir, have completely dried up.
“Because drought conditions appeared in the first half of the year, after the summer grain harvest the drought was already very severe, so most farmers could no longer plant autumn grain.” Local villagers said that the crops had no water for irrigation, and they had no choice but to abandon their grain fields.
According to notification data provided to this newspaper by the Jiaxian County Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, precipitation from June to July this year was 30.4 mm, only 12% of the normal year's 245.4 mm. Due to low rainfall in recent years, combined with prolonged and widespread drought and scarce rain this year, high temperatures and large evaporation, the county has experienced its most severe drought since 1961.
Currently, of the 22 reservoirs in Jiaxian County, 21 have dried up with no water, all 13 rivers have stopped flowing, 3,700 of 8,353 irrigation wells have dried up, and the groundwater level has dropped by an average of more than 15 meters. A total of 162,400 people across the county are experiencing drinking water difficulties of varying degrees, among whom 32,300 people face severe drinking water difficulties.
Not only in Jiaxian County, but also in Zhengzhou, Xuchang, Pingdingshan, Zhoukou and other cities in Henan, varying degrees of drought have occurred.
Henan officials announced on the 13th that the drought disaster has caused direct economic losses in Henan exceeding 7.2 billion yuanRMB, of which agricultural economic losses amounted to 7 billion yuan.
According to statistics from the Disaster Relief Division of the Henan Provincial Department of Civil Affairs on the 13th, the drought in the province has affected 19.29 million people, with 1.18 million people needing livelihood assistance due to drought, including 1.14 million people needing assistance due to drinking water difficulties caused by drought. The affected crop area was 2,163 thousand hectares, of which 186 thousand hectares had no harvest at all, causing direct economic losses of 7.289 billion yuan, including agricultural economic losses of 7.08 billion yuan. A week earlier, the economic loss figure was 4.009 billion yuan, with agricultural losses of 3.377 billion yuan.
Severe Drought Conditions
Since the start of the flood season this year, the average rainfall across Henan Province has been 96 mm, 60% less than the multi-year average for the same period (240 mm). Especially since June, the province's average rainfall has been only 90.2 mm, the lowest for the same period since 1951, showing a severe meteorological drought.
In addition, since July, Henan Province has experienced sustained large-scale high-temperature weather. On July 21, the northwestern and central-western regions reached above 40°C, with Mengzhou Station recording 42.9°C, the highest in the province, breaking the historical extreme. Nearly 35% of the province's small reservoirs have basically dried up, and there is no water available for agricultural irrigation.
At the end of July, the spreading drought had caused the affected autumn grain area in Henan to reach 23.1 million mu, and some towns faced water supply crises. The Henan Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters activated a Level III emergency response for drought relief across the province.
Not only in Henan, this year high temperatures and drought weather have compounded, with droughts occurring across a wide range and developing rapidly. Data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that 12 provinces and regions including Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi, Gansu and Xinjiang are currently experiencing varying degrees of drought. This year's drought is mainly concentrated in Pingdingshan, Luoyang, Luohe, Xuchang and Jiaozuo in Henan; Langfang, Cangzhou, Baoding and Tangshan in Hebei; and Weinan in Shaanxi, among other places. Henan is the hardest-hit area of this drought disaster, with the affected area approaching half of the national total.
Recently, most areas of Henan welcomed sweet rain, and the parched farmland finally received continuous rainfall. On August 11, the reporter learned from the Office of the Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters that according to the latest statistics, the drought-affected area of autumn crops in Henan Province was 12.69 million mu, a decrease of 14.45 million mu compared with the statistics on August 4.
Although the recent precipitation has significantly alleviated the drought across Henan Province, it has not helped much in improving drinking water difficulties for people in hilly areas of Pingdingshan, Zhengzhou, Xuchang, Luoyang and Nanyang. According to statistics on August 10, 592,000 people and 76,300 large livestock across the province still faced temporary drinking water difficulties.
“Natural Disaster” or “Man-Made Calamity”?
As the farming proverb often says: “Whether there is a harvest or not depends on water.” Facing the most severe drought in years, artificial irrigation becomes very important, and the role of water conservancy projects is even more critical.
For Henan, a traditional major agricultural province, water resources are crucial. Although Henan has invested enormously in farmland water conservancy construction over the years, the situation of “weak foundations, too much debt owed, and overall strain” still widely exists.
During interviews, this newspaper's reporter found that in areas with better water conservancy facilities, the drought was relatively milder and crops grew relatively well. Wherever land was barren or crops were withered and yellow, it was mostly because water conservancy facilities were incomplete or had been damaged and could not be used.
On August 13, the reporter saw on both sides of the road in Duzhuang Village, Zhangde Township, Yuzhou City, that the corn in the farmland was very short and stunted, with some already withered and yellow. A villager from Duzhuang Village told the reporter: “In recent years, our village has drilled many wells, all built with state investment, but the water level is just not sufficient, and villagers cannot use them.”
On the north side of Tong Village, Zhongtou Township, Jiaxian County, a patch of farmland that is not particularly large is surrounded by three pump house buildings. A villager surnamed Li angrily told the reporter: “Don't be fooled by how many pump houses there are, none of them can be used.” In villages such as Lanyu Village, Zhongtou Township, Jiaxian County, multiple local villagers questioned the planning, standards and engineering quality of farmland water conservancy facility construction.
According to the reporter's investigation, in recent years, national, provincial, municipal and county-level relevant departments have all invested heavily in agricultural water conservancy facilities. For farmland water conservancy alone, departments at various levels including water conservancy, land and resources, poverty alleviation, agriculture and agricultural development have successively invested in construction.
Taking Zhongtou Township in Jiaxian County as an example: in 2012, water conservancy facility construction investments included 13.51 million yuan for the Agricultural Comprehensive Development High-Standard Farmland Construction Demonstration Project, 8 million yuan for the Modern Agricultural Production Project, and 3.5 million yuan for the Dryland Water-Saving Agriculture Demonstration Base Construction Project. In just one township, Zhongtou, construction funds reached as high as 25.01 million yuan in a single year.
If some water conservancy facilities being unusable is caused by “natural disasters” and other natural reasons, then farmland water conservancy facilities in some places are entirely the result of “man-made calamities.”
In Liuzhai Township, Xinmi City, Henan Province, an agricultural comprehensive development project from 2009 has now been completely repurposed. The project's public notice showed: through development, 3,500 mu of new irrigation area could be added, able to irrigate in drought and drain in floods, with complete agricultural facility support, adding 1 million kg of grain production capacity annually and 2 million yuan in new agricultural output value.
However, this newspaper's reporter saw in Cuilaozhuang, Liuzhai Township, Xinmi City, within the project area, that water conservancy facilities marked with “Agricultural Comprehensive Development” were severely damaged, and the agricultural comprehensive development project area intended to support grain production and improve agricultural production capacity had been turned into a development zone for a Henan real estate company.
In Zhukou Township, Taikang County, Henan Province, a small-scale farmland water conservancy irrigation project invested and built by the state in 2013 has had irrigation supporting facilities that remain unusable, making it impossible to irrigate the farmland and harming the interests of local farmers.
Under the influence of extreme weather factors, if farmland water conservancy construction lags behind or oversight is lacking, it will inevitably affect the effectiveness of drought relief and disaster reduction. How to strictly control quality standards during project planning and construction, how to improve project supporting facilities, acceptance and handover, and how to enhance later-stage maintenance and management capabilities -- these are all key issues for water conservancy facilities to truly play their role.
“Attention should be paid to developing water-saving agriculture, raising the construction standards of farmland water conservancy facilities, and transforming from extensive agricultural production methods to intensive ones.” A relevant official from the Henan Provincial Department of Agriculture said, “One should not forget drought when rain is plentiful, and wait until drought strikes to dig wells.”