No Easy Fix after Decades of Droughts in Yunnan

Like sunken wrecks in a dry riverbed, the province's latest drought has exposed serious flaws in a leaky, strained water supply system

(Caixin Online) Three years ago, en route to an interview, I traveled by boat to Thailand from China's Yunnan Province by cruising down the Lancang River. The same trip would be impossible today; boats are now scattered high and dry along the shoreline, and international shipping has been suspended.

But disrupted boating is a minor concern in many areas of Yunnan now afflicted by serious drought. Millions of people have been hard-pressed to find basic drinking water, and the agricultural industry has suffered at least 10 billion yuan in direct economic losses.

Several rivers including the Lancang, Jinsha and Nu course through Yunnan, suggesting a region steeped in water wealth. But complicated topography and uneven resource distribution prevent these rivers from protecting many of the province's people from frequent, devastating drought.

And this year's drought, which has been blamed on nature, has exposed several long-standing weaknesses in the regional system for water supply and drought relief, particularly in rural areas.

Years of patchy rural irrigation and water conservation projects have left a legacy of inefficiency. Like many places in China, Yunnan's irrigation systems leak like sieves; more than half the water never reaches intended destinations.

At a September news conference at the State Council's Information Office in Beijing, the director of the Central Rural Work Leading Group said more than half of all irrigated water is lost during transmission. The effective utilization rate for agricultural irrigation is only around 40 percent in China, but up to 70 percent in most developed countries.

Yunnan is in the process of upgrading its agricultural water conservation systems. Nevertheless, further and huge investments in technical improvements will be needed to adequately upgrade the province's irrigation network.

Many are wondering, can anything be done to improve the situation in the short-term?

Get Serious

The Yunnan government is taking the latest drought seriously. But some fear government leaders may be paying mere pay lip service to disaster relief without building a workable, drought-resistant water system.

Three years ago, the Yunnan Provincial Water Resources Department told the provincial People's Congress Standing Committee about several outstanding problems. Here are some of the issues outlined in the department's Drought Ordinance of Yunnan Province:

● Construction delays for anti-drought infrastructure, insufficient water resource projects, incompatible facilities for irrigation projects, and difficulties in getting drinking water to people in mountain regions;

● Some regions and departments, by putting more emphasis on flood prevention than drought prevention, have missed drought prevention opportunities;

● No standard mechanisms or work systems have been established to combat the effects of drought;

● A variety of disputes have emerged over water usage during drought relief efforts, sometimes leading to crime and riots.

As dramatic as these issues may sound, however, the actual lack of water is an even more serious issue for the people of Yunnan. Unfortunately, waters shortages have become a part of life.

Data from the Provincial Water Resources Department indicated that drought affected Yunnan during all but four years between 1950 and 2003, and droughts were severe in 21 of those years. Moreover, direct economic losses from Yunnan droughts total more than 2 billion yuan every year.

Tao Yun and other members of the Yunnan Province Institute of Meteorological Sciences recently published a paper claiming the province's regional temperature has risen an average 0.2 degrees per decade over the past 30 years – about twice the global average – while the amount of available annual precipitation has significantly fallen.

In other words, considering the mounting effects of global warming, drought could plague Yunnan and other parts of China with increasing frequency, making dry-year preparations more important than ever.

More More More

Despite shortages, demand for water has been rising dramatically in Yunnan. Some areas suffering from a lack of water have been pushing urban expansion and erecting huge, luxurious buildings. Some have even recruited new industries to town that demand large amounts of water.

The provincial city of Chuxiong is among the hardest hit by this year's dry spell. But during a recent visit, Caixin found the city's government offices spread across vast plots in an array of huge towers. Similarly, in drought-stricken Honghe prefecture, the local government built an extravagant office building, jokingly called western China's White House.

In addition, a provincial push for more foreign investment may either help or hinder the battle for better water supplies.

While drought relief efforts were in full swing, Yunnan sponsored a Foreign Investment Conference on March 1. Organizers said foreign investment in the province had recently, for the first time, exceeded the 100 billion yuan mark. The capital Kunming led all prefectures and cities in drawing foreign capital.

Despite this trend, Kunming's water resources are strained. Zeng Guangquan, a senior engineer at the Provincial Environmental Science Research Institute, said Kunming will be able to guarantee a basic water supply through 2010. But he said the combined effects of urbanization and industrialization could leave the city short by 500 million cubic meters of water a year – nearly equal to the city's current water demand– by 2020.

Unless steps are taken now to find and channel new water sources and conserve existing supplies, Kunming's urban development could be seriously constrained. It's hoped the city's Communist Party secretary, Qiu He, will lead a successful effort to resolve the water deficit while vying for foreign investment.