Tools: Save | Print | " target="_blank" class="style1">E-mail | Most Read
China's Second Largest Freshwater Lake Expands
Adjust font size:
The vast Dongting Lake in central China has expanded by nearly 20 percent over the past five years thanks to grain-for-water projects.

As the enlarged area can store an extra of one billion cubic meters of water, local people's lingering fear of flooding is gradually receding.

Since 1998, approximately 300,000 people formerly living around China's second largest freshwater lake have returned their reclaimed farmland to the lake and moved out to build new residential homes.

Jin Shenggao, an expert with the Yueyang Water Quality Inspection Center of the Yangtze River Water Resources Committee, said the grain-for-water project was vitally important to local ecology.

"The returned farmland will become wetlands, better adjusting to the local climate and protecting the lake's water quality, drawing more species back to the lake," he said.

"Also, no pesticides and chemical fertilizers are to be used any more and that has led to a sharp drop in chemical pollutants."

To fully tap the lake's huge water resources, county governments along the lake are set to develop aquaculture of local specialties such as turtles and pearls.

Two kinds of fish bred in the lake by Liu Jun, an academician with the China Academy of Sciences, have been widely sold over seas in Japan, Europe and the United States.

Zhang Huadan, ex-head of the Water Resource Bureau of Yueyang city, nicknamed "The Walking Encyclopedia of Dongting Lake," said, "So long as the country's grain-for-water policy is implemented in the letter, the lake's previous prosperity and beauty will surely reemerge."

Dongting Lake, spanning both naturally-endowed Hubei and Hunan provinces, used to be the largest freshwater lake in the country over a period of 181 years from 1644 to 1825 with an area of around 6,270 square kilometers.

The central authorities of the imperial Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), however, called on people in 1895 to move on to the islets of the lake, starting massive land reclamation, which slashed the area to 2,740 square kilometers.

The 600,000 local residents of Nanxian county, which covers 1,000 sq km, had to rebuild their homes and farms after they were repeatedly destroyed by floods.

The reinforcement of cofferdams, embankments and dykes became an annual ritual, and local farmers had to bear a financial burden of 300-400 yuan (US$36-48) more than those living in mountain areas.

With the double burden of floods and financial troubles, many farmers have abandoned their reclaimed farmland to seek a living in the cities.

In Anxiang village of Anxiang county, the worst case, more than half of 1,300 hectares of arable land has been left idle.

To spare local people their annual battle with flooding, the Chinese government decided to implement the grain-for-water project in 1998.

Now, when flood season approaches, the vast lake will again be churned up -- not by men busy on dyke reinforcement, but by lively birds swarming in to their nests.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2002)

Tools: Save | Print | " target="_blank" class="style1">E-mail | Most Read

Related Stories
More Farmland to Be Returned to Woods Around Dongting Lake
Huge Loans Earmarked for Harnessing Freshwater Lake
Hi-Tech Helps Monitor Environment on No.1 Freshwater Lake
NPC Deputies Call for Harnessing Largest Freshwater Lake
China Protects Rare Birds in Dongting Lake Area
 
SiteMap | About Us | RSS | Newsletter | Feedback

Copyright ? China.org.cn. All Rights Reserved E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-88828000 京ICP證 040089號(hào)

主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产一区二区三区夜色| 在线果冻传媒星空无限传媒| 九九视频在线观看视频23| 污视频网站免费在线观看| 别揉我奶头~嗯~啊~视频在线观看| 韩国三级hd中文字幕| 国产漂亮白嫩美女在线观看| 2021国产精品一区二区在线| 在线观看人成视频免费| wwwfuqercom| 性xxxx18免费观看视频| 中文字幕在线观| 日本久久综合久久综合| 国产免费变态视频网址网站| 色www永久免费网站| 在线播放国产不卡免费视频| xxxxx做受大片在线观看免费| 成人欧美精品大91在线| 久久久999久久久精品| 日韩a在线播放| 久久综合香蕉久久久久久久| 欧美一区二区三区久久综合 | 人人做人人爽人人爱| 精品久久人人妻人人做精品| 后入内射国产一区二区| xxxxwww免费| 国产精品福利一区二区久久| 91免费视频网| 国外bbw免费视频| 99福利在线观看| 夜夜春宵伴娇全文阅读| a视频在线观看免费| 太深太粗太爽太猛了视频| 久久九九99热这里只有精品| 欧美色图在线观看| 亚洲精品无码mv在线观看| 热re99久久精品国99热| 国产V亚洲V天堂A无码| 亚洲色图欧美在线| 天天躁日日躁狠狠躁性色AVQ| 一级做a爰片性色毛片男|