Image provided by Anhui Provincial Group Limited For Yangtze-to-Huaihe Water Diversion

According to the Anhui Provincial Water Resources Department, since the end of the rainy season on July 1, rainfall across the entire Huaihe River basin has been deficient. The northern Anhui region received only 12 millimeters of rain. Due to this severe lack of rainfall, the daily inflow to the upper reaches of the Huaihe River’s main stream in Henan Province is only about 1.7 million cubic meters. The daily water pumping volume from pump stations along the Huaihe River upstream of Bengbu Gate in Anhui exceeds 17 million cubic meters, the water level at the Bengbu Gate has rapidly dropped.

The Provincial Water Resources Department promptly organized consultations and assessments, strengthened the analysis of water storage and supply-demand situations along northern Huaihe River, and seized the “window phase” of relatively good water sources from the Yangtze River mainstream. On July 17, the Caizihu Lake - Chaohu Lake line of the Yangtze-to-Huaihe Water Diversion Project was operated at full capacity to supplement water to the Huaihe River, effectively stabilizing the declining water level trend of the Huaihe River’s main stream.

To further ease the supply-demand contradictions of water sources in the Huaihe River main stream, the department strengthened comprehensive consultations with the Anhui Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment and the Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. On July 25, the project’s Xihe - Zhaohe line was activated for emergency water supplementation to the Huaihe River, achieving the full operation of the “double-line diversion” of the Yangtze-to-Huaihe Water Diversion Project.

This time, the Fenghuangjing Pump Station was started to transfer water through the Xihe and Zhaohe rivers, diverting Yangtze River water into Chaohu Lake. The water converges at the Xiaohefen Line with the water pumped from the Caizihu - Chaohu line at the Baishan hub. It is then boosted step-by-step through the Paihekou and Shushan pump stations, flows through Wabu Lake, and finally enters the Huaihe River main stream.

Currently, the Yangtze-to-Huaihe Water Diversion Project diverts water from the Yangtze River to the Huaihe River at a rate of 250 cubic meters per second, with a daily supplementation exceeding 20 million cubic meters. Since July 17, a total of 170 million cubic meters of water has been supplemented to the Huaihe River. The water level at the Bengbu Gate on the Huaihe River main stream has stopped declining and started to rise, reaching 16.8 meters on July 28, a 27-centimeter increase from the lowest level. Meanwhile, the Provincial Water Resources Department is coordinating key infrastructure such as the Cihuaixinhe River Shangqiao Station, Huaihongxinhe River Hexiang Gate, and Huaihe - Yangtze rivers water to Xifeihe River Station to relay Yangtze River water into northern Anhui, effectively ensuring safe drinking water for urban and rural residents and meeting water demands for agricultural irrigation.

Source: anhuinews.com