East China’s Jiangsu province has issued a blue warning for summer drought as the province witnessed less rainfall over the past two months, which had reduced the water levels in the lakes and rivers across the province.
In the past three months, the water level of Hongze Lake dropped to 11.62 meters, lower than the 11.8-meter dry water level, due to the continuous drought and less rainfall and low water level from the upstream.
The Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources issued a blue warning for drought in Hongze Lake on the afternoon of June 20.
In the waters of Longji Town, Sihong County, Hongze Lake, the farthest water surface is more than 100 meters away from the shore, exposing the water plants that include large areas of reeds.
In order to meet the water supply for rice and crab farming, Longji Town has opened all pumping stations to pump water.
The demand for water supply for agricultural production in the townships along the Hongze Lake has increased. For this reason, the higher authorities are required to approve water diversion from the upstream to ensure that the water level of Hongze Lake can reach normal irrigation, and to ensure the normal supply of water for residents and agricultural water in the surrounding counties and cities of Hongze Lake.
The water supply in the early stage of rice transplanting is very important, and it is also the time when agricultural production needs the largest and most concentrated water consumption throughout the year.
Binhai County invested in repairing the faulty pumping station and dredging the river. Xuzhou diverted water from nearby Lanling County, Shandong Province, and increased water supply to Luoma Lake by 430 million cubic meters.The Lianyungang Water Conservancy Department diverted 1.11 billion cubic meters of water from the Huaihe River.
The meteorological department has implemented artificial rain enhancement, the environmental protection department has strengthened the use of returned water, and the agricultural department has strengthened field management so as to combat the recent spell of drought.
