Flood control facing tough month ahead

The Ministry of Water Resources has warned of an even more grim and complicated flood control situation in the coming 30 days, as the country approaches a critical annual period for flood management.

The country has faced a challenging water management situation so far this year, marked by extreme droughts and floods occurring simultaneously, Wang Baoen, vice-minister of water resources, said at a news conference on Sunday.

Such disasters have been more severe and prolonged than usual, he added.

Since the rainy season began on April 1, approximately 20 floods have struck major rivers across the country, Wang said. Meanwhile, severe drought has affected North China and the region between the Yellow and Huaihe rivers.

According to the ministry, the country experienced an average national rainfall of 303 millimeters from April 1 to Sunday, marking a 16 percent increase over the usual levels for the period and the third highest since 1961.

Wang warned that forecasts indicate that the concurrence of extreme droughts and floods will continue into the second half of July and the first half of August, a period historically prone to flooding in China.

Even more frequent and intense torrential rains are expected to hit broader areas in the coming 30 days, making the flood control situation more complicated, he added.

Qian Feng, deputy head of the ministry's information center, said the northern part of the country is expected to receive much more precipitation than southern China during the period.

Some rivers in northern China, including the Songhua and Liaohe in Northeast China and the upper reaches of the Yangtze and Hanjiang, will receive 20 to 50 percent more precipitation than normal years, he said.

He said all of the seven major river basins in China — the Songhua, Liaohe, Haihe, Yellow, Huaihe, Yangtze and Pearl — will experience flooding, albeit with varying intensities.

In the Yangtze basin, for example, the upper reaches of Asia's longest watercourse will suffer a major flood, he said. Its tributaries, the Jialing and Hanjiang, will see water levels exceed warning levels.

Qian also noted an expected increase in extreme torrential rains in several regions, including the upper reaches of the Yangtze and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow and the Songhua rivers, which may cause intense deluges in small and medium-sized rivers, mountain torrents and urban inundation.

The ministry said it will implement a series of preparatory measures aimed at preventing casualties, reservoir dam collapses, breaches of key embankments and damage to critical infrastructure to cope with the situation.

Starting Tuesday, all ministry staff will be required to remain on duty, with leading officials presiding over consultations for all emerging torrential rain processes and major floods.

The ministry will intensify monitoring, forecasting and early warning systems, providing guidance to local governments on flood control efforts. Additionally, coordination will be enhanced to optimize the role of reservoirs in flood mitigation through concerted water storage efforts.

Yao Wenguang, director of the ministry's department of flood and drought disaster prevention, said another priority for the ministry is to intensify patrols, especially at night.

Dedicated personnel will be assigned to areas with potential risks for monitoring and those assigned to emergency response will be asked to stand by to ensure that all hazards will be identified, handled and eradicated as early as possible, he said.