Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has established 952 water use associations (WUA) which control nearly 80 percent of the region's irrigation system.

Ningxia is one of the country's most arid regions, with annual average rainfall of only 297 millimeters. The region's agriculture is highly dependent on ditch irrigation.

Bi Tinghe, vice director of the Department of Water Resources of Ningxia, said the associations cover 400,000 hectares of land in the region and save an estimated 640 million cubic meters of water annually.

The local government began establishing an irrigation management system for the entire region in 2004. Water use associations were set up in villages to direct the use of water resources.

The associations now have 4,565 members in charge of 2,716 irrigation ditches, and have saved 8.7 percent of water of Ningxia’s water supply year-on-year, reducing the region's irrigation cycle by half, Bi said.