Overcoming China’s worst flood in decades
Wide-scale flooding across China, killing over 140 people, has sparked an injection of relief funding into flood control projects.
Weeks of extreme rain have led to China’s Yangtze river having what is being called the worst flood in decades.
Data released from the Ministry of Water Resources showed that 109 rivers exceeded water safety levels, with 433 rivers in China flooding since June.
The national Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief raised its response to the second-highest level, with authorities in the eastern province of Jiangxi issuing "wartime" measures, according to The Guardian.
Thousands of soldiers have been sent to the Yangtze River to help build dykes along the embankment and dig channels to release water.
Advancing water conservancy projects
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said that 150 new major water conservancy projects will be advanced.
Storage capacity for flood control is expected to be increased by nine billion cubic meters, and the annual water supply capacity by 42 billion cubic meters.
Wei Su, deputy secretary general of the commission, was quoted as saying the projects will involve flood control, allocation of water resources, irrigation and water supply, water ecological protection and smart water conservancy.
The commission will reportedly allocate 309 million yuan ($44 million) in relief funds to affected regions including Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei provinces and Chongqing.
This year China’s budget for water infrastructure programs will reach 1.29 trillion yuan ($184 billion).
