China is diverting water, for the fifth time in the first half of this year, into the dry section of the lower reaches of the Tarim River, the longest inland river in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

During the current water injection scheme going on between March and June, an estimated 300 million cubic meters of water is expected to be diverted from the Daxihaizi Reservoir, at the middle of the Tarim River and Bosten Lake, into the dry lower reaches of the Tarim River.

To date, 100 million cubic meters of water has been injected into the original watercourse of the Tarim River, advancing the water head by more than 40 kilometers.

This is part of the sustained efforts of the Xinjiang government to maintain the eco-environment of the Tarim valley. The regional water conservation department pledged to curb ecological deterioration along the Tarim River within five to 10 years.

The 1,321 km-long Tarim River runs west to east along the northern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, the biggest moving desert in the country, and flows into Taitema Lake. The 320-km-long section of the lower reaches of the river and Taitema Lake dried up in 1972 following the construction of a reservoir on the river which blocked water from flowing into the lower reaches.

After a field survey in December last year, water conservation experts in Xinjiang decided to open up a new watercourse for water injection, which will irrigate more arid areas at the lower reaches with water diverted from the Tarim River.

The area of cultivated land on the lower reaches of the Tarim River exceeds 4,200 square kilometers, one-eighth of which benefited from the previous four water injections, said a regional government official.

(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2003)