The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, co-host of the 2008 Olympic
Games sailing event, has begun to store water from the Yellow River
for use during the 15-day games.
The sluice gates of the Yellow River water diversion project
opened at 8 a.m. on Tuesday at Boxing County in eastern Shandong
Province. Qingdao, which is 300 km away, is expected to receive 160
million cubic meters of fresh water from the Yellow River this
time, almost equal to the annual consumption of the city's urban
areas.
Water moved to Qingdao through a channel at 25 cubic meters per
second and is expected to arrive at the Jihongtan reservoir in
suburban Qingdao in 10 days, said Liu Jing, senior engineer with
the Shandong office of the Yellow River Engineering Bureau.
Liu said the water will be saved for domestic and industrial use
and will alleviate water supply pressures on Qingdao during the
2008 Olympics.
More than 600 km southeast of Beijing, greater Qingdao covers an
area of 10,654 square km, facing the Yellow Sea. It has a
population of 7.49 million, more than one-third of whom reside in
its urban areas.
The famous vacation resort faces limited fresh water supplies as
a result of its geography. The shortfalls have been exacerbated
over the past decade as its population and economy have grown.
According to the city's water-conservation office, the city's
annual water consumption is about 1.7 million cubic meters, almost
double the level of the early 1990s. Average per capita water
resources are just 342 cubic meters, or one-seventh of the national
level.
To guarantee supplies, Shandong began obtaining water from the
Yellow River in 1989. The urban districts of Qingdao have received
more than 1.1 billion cubic meters of water so far.
In addition, Qingdao has been working on seawater desalination
projects. The city plans to build nine desalination plants by 2010
with total daily production of 200,000 tons of potable water.
Up to 400 athletes and 270 sailboats are expected to compete in
nine classes at the 2008 Olympics sailing events.
Construction of the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center, the venue of
the Olympic sailing competition, was completed in June 2006. It has
hosted several successful test competitions.
(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2007)