Central water conservancy investment is expected to exceed 80 billion this year.

Interpreter: Chen Lei, Minister of Water Resources

This year, the No. 1 document of the CPC Central Committee wrote "further strengthening the foundation for agricultural and rural development" in the title, and put forward new requirements for water conservancy infrastructure construction, flood control and drought relief, and rural drinking water safety. In a recent interview with reporters, Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei interpreted the contents of the Central Committee's No. 1 document on water conservancy, and put forward specific targets for this year's water conservancy work.

Reporter: this year's Central Committee No. 1 document clearly stated that "the state's investment in fixed assets should give priority to water conservancy construction." at the same time, on the basis of last year's Central Committee No. 1 document calling for an increase in central and provincial financial investment in small-scale irrigation and water conservancy projects, a "substantial increase" has been added this year, proposing a "substantial increase in the scale of special funds for the construction of small-scale irrigation and water conservancy facilities in central and provincial finance." So, what are the specific arrangements for water conservancy investment this year?

Chen Lei: at present, the Ministry of Water Resources is strengthening communication and coordination with ministries and commissions such as the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, and actively strive to increase investment in fixed assets in the central budget and special financial funds for water conservancy. According to the preliminary implementation, the central government's investment in water conservancy is expected to exceed 80 billion yuan this year, a record high. At the same time, in accordance with the spirit of the Central Committee's No. 1 document, we will speed up the reform of the water conservancy investment and financing system, stabilize and strengthen existing investment sources, and actively open up new investment channels. strive to issue policy documents to extend the collection period of water conservancy construction funds and broaden fund-raising channels as soon as possible; make full use of the central government's preferential policies such as "one matter, one discussion", subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery and equipment, and financial discounts, and increase investment in irrigation and water conservancy construction. Efforts should be made to give full play to the role of the market mechanism and expand the channels of water conservancy investment and financing.

Reporter: a severe drought last year put China's irrigation and water conservancy construction to a great test. Relevant experts also believe that China will enter a period of frequent occurrence of extreme weather for some time to come, and what new measures do we have in irrigation and water conservancy construction, flood control and drought relief this year?

Chen Lei: at present, it is time to carry out the capital construction of irrigation and water conservancy in winter and spring. We are firmly seizing this favorable opportunity to extensively mobilize the masses to carry out farmland water conservancy construction focusing on small irrigation and drainage projects, small water source projects and water damage projects. Small ponds, small pools, small water cellars and other small and micro farmland water conservancy projects in hilly areas are carried out to remove silt and expand capacity, renovate and strengthen, eliminate risks and increase efficiency. Efforts will be made to raise the new and most exciting parts of irrigation and water conservancy infrastructure, so that the investment, scale and efficiency will exceed that of the previous year. In addition, this year, on the basis of conscientiously summing up the construction experience of the first batch of key counties of small-scale irrigation and water conservancy, and on the basis of irrigation and water conservancy planning at the county level, a number of new key counties will be added through open competition and expert review.

Affected by climate change, in recent years, abnormal climate in China, severe torrential rain in some areas, extreme high temperature and drought, super typhoon and other events occur frequently, and the problem of weak water conservancy infrastructure and comprehensive disaster prevention and mitigation capacity has become more and more prominent. This year, in accordance with the requirements of the No. 1 document, we will continue to strengthen the control of major rivers and lakes, comprehensively start a new round of projects to control the Huaihe River, do a good job in the comprehensive management of Taihu Lake, Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake, speed up the short-term management of small and medium-sized rivers in key areas, and promote the prevention and control of mountain torrents. We will implement the national plan for the construction and management of flood storage and detention areas, focusing on the safety construction of 10 billion cubic meters of flood storage and detention areas near Chenglingji of the Yangtze River, Huaihe River flood storage and detention areas, and Haihe important flood storage and detention areas; fully implement various flood control and drought relief responsibility systems with the administrative head responsibility system as the main content, and strengthen the construction of non-engineering measures such as hydrological monitoring and forecasting, pre-plan early warning, decision-making and command, so as to further reduce the losses of flood and waterlogging disasters. At the same time, we should persist in both flood control and drought relief, do a good job in the construction of emergency water sources for drought relief, strengthen the unified management and scientific dispatching of water sources for drought relief, ensure the safety of domestic water in urban and rural areas, and strive to meet the water needs of industrial and agricultural production.

Reporter: in recent years, the first document has mentioned the issue of rural drinking water safety, and this year it is proposed to "increase investment in rural drinking water safety projects." what is the current situation of drinking water safety for farmers in our country? What are your goals for this year?

Chen Lei: the Eleventh five-year Plan for the Construction of the National Rural drinking Water Safety Project approved by the State Council in 2006 requires that the problem of drinking water safety for 160 million rural people should be solved during the Eleventh five-year Plan period. By 2015, the problem of drinking water safety for 320 million rural people will be solved. Last year, we solved the problem of drinking water safety for 60.69 million rural people, together with the problem of drinking water safety for nearly 100 million people in the previous three years, and now we have completed the task of the Eleventh five-year Plan ahead of schedule. In accordance with the requirements of the central government, we should strive to fully solve the problem of drinking water safety in rural areas by 2013.

At present, we are actively coordinating with relevant state departments to increase investment in rural drinking water safety projects, urge various localities to implement supporting funds, speed up preliminary work, strengthen construction management, and solve the problem of unsafe drinking water for another 60 million rural people this year. In addition, summarize and popularize the experience of Shandong, Jiangsu, Gansu and other places, implement centralized water supply and urban-rural water supply according to local conditions, and constantly improve the guarantee capacity of rural water supply projects. We will step up efforts to complete the review of the newly added rural drinking water unsafe population, formulate a national rural drinking water safety project plan for 2010-2013, and comprehensively solve the new drinking water unsafe problem.

Reporter: China is a country short of water, and the shortage of water resources is one of the factors restricting the development of agriculture in our country. This year's No. 1 document reiterated the need to "vigorously develop water-saving irrigation." what specific measures will the Ministry of Water Resources take in this regard?

Chen Lei: this year, we will substantially increase the investment in water-saving irrigation with the combination of water-saving transformation in irrigation districts and small-scale irrigation and water conservancy construction, so as to realize the leap from project demonstration to comprehensive promotion of water-saving irrigation. In addition, a regional action plan for efficient water-saving irrigation will be launched this year, taking the lead in building high-efficiency water-saving project areas in the northeast, arid areas of Inner Mongolia and inland rivers in the northwest. We will promote all localities to develop efficient water-saving technologies such as canal anti-seepage, pipeline water conveyance, sprinkler irrigation, drip irrigation and micro-irrigation according to local conditions, and do a good job of water transportation, irrigation, water use and water saving in the management process. Rain Water collection and utilization projects such as water cellars and mountain ponds will be built in hilly areas, and rain-harvesting and energy-saving irrigation will be developed. We will establish a total amount control and quota management system for agricultural irrigation, and strengthen planned and scientific water use. Actively develop water-saving irrigation technology and equipment, and establish and improve the technical service system of water-saving irrigation.