China will improve its emergency responses to extreme weather
caused by global warming, E Jingping, vice minister of water
resources, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
"Climate change poses a long-term threat to China's emergency
response system," he said, citing "exceptionally serious" floods
and droughts in the country last year.
"Provinces including Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi
suffered exceptionally heavy torrential rains and floods that
caused several deaths and casualties while Chongqing Municipality
and east of Sichuan Province were hit by severe droughts that were
rarely seen," he said.
Climate change has affected water resource distribution in
China, with decreasing runoff observed over the past four decades
in the six major rivers -- Haihe River, Yellow River, Huaihe River,
Songhuajiang River, Yangtze River and Pearl River.
Over the next two to three years, the government will largely
complete the renovation of large and medium-sized reservoirs in the
country that are in a poor state, as well as key small ones, said
the vice minister.
The country will also monitor reservoirs and rivers and rescue
mechanisms more closely, he said. China has more than 85,000
reservoirs, of which 30,000 have serious problems, including 200
large and 1,600 medium-sized reservoirs.
Early in June, the ministry published the names of safety
liability officials for 486 reservoirs, urging all-level government
administrative executives to take responsibility for the safety of
local reservoirs.
On April 19, 1,700 people had to be evacuated from four villages
after a dam on the Xiaohaizi Reservoir in northwestern Gansu
Province cracked, causing water to flood the surrounding area and
destroying a highway bridge.
The reservoir, with a capacity of 3.5 million cubic meters, was
initially built in 1958, and had undergone several renovation and
expansion projects, the most recent from 2002 to 2004.
(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2007)