The year of severe drought tests irrigation and water conservancy

Since July, a severe drought not seen in decades has spread in central and northeast China.

According to reports, 30.1 million mu of crops have been affected in Liaoning, and hundreds of thousands of mu of farmland in some places have successively failed. "Central Plains Granary" Henan, drought-affected areas involving Zhengzhou, Pingdingshan and other 13 provincial municipalities, crops affected 32.4453 million mu, no harvest of 2.7932 million mu. The drought in both places is rare in 63 years.

In the long-term drought resistance process of agriculture, irrigation and water conservancy facilities are regarded as "pressure reducing valve" and "safety valve". What is the state of irrigation and water conservancy in severely arid areas this year?

The proportion of cultivated land "harvested by the sky" is not small, and the disaster is serious.

"for as long as I can remember, I have never seen such a dry day. In the past, one mu of corn could harvest more than 1000 jin, but now it can collect no more than 200 jin." Said Huang Jine, a 70-year-old farmer in Liaozhong County, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province.

"the well will run out of water in July. If it doesn't rain in August, my corn yield will be reduced by at least 50%. " The article of the village branch of Liu Shawo Village, Shixiang Township, Changge City, Henan Province, said. The well he is talking about is a motor well drilled in the 1970s, with a depth of more than 20 meters. There was still water in previous years, but it has dried up this year.

Summer drought is often referred to as "stuck neck drought" in Henan. Because the autumn grain in Henan is mainly corn, the water demand is the highest in July and August. If the water is not watered in time, it may seriously lead to the end of the harvest.

However, there are very few Rain Water in Henan this summer. According to the Henan Provincial Meteorological Bureau, the rainfall from June to July was 114.6 mm, nearly 60% lower than that of 276.9 mm in the same period of many years and the lowest in the same period since 1951. The river runoff is decreasing continuously, and more than 50% of the small and medium-sized rivers are cut off. In addition, this year is the third dry season in Henan since 2011, and the reservoir has also turned on a "red light".

Since the beginning of July this year, Liaoning has suffered the worst meteorological drought in 63 years. In Xinmintun Town, Tiexi District, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, many corn has withered and yellow, and peanuts have died in large areas due to drought. In this vast plain, the farmland of the local people is basically divided into two kinds: dry fields for growing corn and peanuts and paddy fields for growing rice.

Liaoning dry land has a planting area of more than 3000 million mu, most of which can only rely on heaven for food. It is understood that most of the dry land is not invested in water conservancy facilities, and basically all the paddy fields have pumps.

There is also a large number of cultivated land in Henan Province which is lack of irrigation conditions and "harvested by the sky". "the total area of cultivated land in the province is about 118.8 million mu, of which the effective irrigation area is about 76.21 million mu, and more than 30 million mu are lack of irrigation conditions. They are mainly concentrated in the hilly and hilly areas of western Henan Province." Yang Biantong, inspector of flood control and drought relief in Henan Province, said: "under the situation of drought relief this year, the output of these more than 30 million mu will definitely be reduced or the harvest will be eliminated, and these places will first protect drinking water for people and livestock."

The allocation of water conservancy facilities in some places is out of balance and the investment is insufficient.

When visiting many places in Liaoning, the reporter found that there were uneven distribution of water conservancy facilities and repeated construction in some places.

In the village of Xinmintun Town, Liaozhong County, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, the town used state funds to drill nearly ten electric pump wells, but these wells were basically built around paddy fields.

There are no wells in the dry fields, but in the rice fields, the reporter saw two wells at a distance of only 10 meters. A villager told the reporter that one of the two wells was drilled seven years ago and the other was drilled last year, and both wells can produce water.

Why not dig a well for dry land? "Inspection and acceptance just depends on whether the well can get out of the water, and where the well can be drilled! In dry land, the groundwater table is relatively deep, the cost of drilling wells is high, and it is difficult to get out of water. Drilling wells in paddy fields is safe, anyway, there are subsidies for several wells with water coming out of several wells. " The villager said. During a visit to the village, the reporter found that there are still some wells that have been drilled, but they are not equipped with pumps. "these wells were all drilled last year."

Relevant agricultural experts believe that irrigation and water conservancy construction investment is indeed insufficient, it is difficult to resist major natural disasters, but there is also a waste of agricultural water. Experts suggest that it is necessary to increase investment in irrigation and water conservancy funds, attach importance to the compilation of irrigation and water conservancy construction planning, standardize the management of irrigation and water conservancy construction projects and the use of funds, vigorously promote water-saving irrigation technology, and strengthen small-scale irrigation and water conservancy construction.

During the visit, the reporter also found that in areas with irrigation conditions, there are still some farmers who take the initiative to give up irrigation.

"although the government does not charge water fees for farmers to irrigate their land due to the severe drought, they still have to charge electricity charges by swiping cards for pumping water from motor wells. Due to the low water pressure and small effluent flow this year, people find that the electricity charges are the same, but they get much less water, so they feel that it is not cost-effective. " Li Huidong, director of the Guqiao Township Agricultural Center in Changge City, Henan Province, said, "Young people earn more money by going out to work than farming. When there is a severe drought, some farmers will choose to give up irrigation. "

There are many debts in water conservancy, and the old wells and canals can no longer catch up with the changes.

"many of the motor wells drilled in the 1960s and 1970s have dried up, and those drilled in the 1980s and 1990s had to be 'washed' in order to draw water." On the land of Xiao Ying Village, Naodian Town, Baofeng County, Pingdingshan City, Henan Province, Zhao Jin is now taking several villagers to "wash the well." he controls a device shaped like a big hand, probes into the well and "grabs" the mud and garbage out of the well.

Baofeng County has more than 4000 motor wells, and more than 2200 of them are under-watered. This year, the county finance has allocated more than 7 million yuan, and plans to desilt more than 600 motor wells and drill 40 new ones.

It is not only the problem that the old wells can not catch up with the new changes in the well irrigation area, but also the challenge in the Yellow River diversion irrigation area of Henan Province, some diversion canals can not draw water, or the water diversion flow decreases.

Due to the completion and operation of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir and the deep cutting of the Yellow River channel, the river bed of the Henan section of the Yellow River has dropped by an average of about 2 meters, and the diversion water level in front of the Yellow River diversion sluice in Henan Province has generally dropped by 2.5 meters, and some of the Yellow River diversion gates are higher than the river surface and cannot be diverted. At present, Wujia and Yangqiao have been unable to draw water, and the people's Victory Canal has been forced to use mobile pumping stations for emergency pumping to fight drought. Other irrigation districts have affected more than 60% of their water supply capacity, and the situation is grim. " Song Dehai, director of the East Henan Water Conservancy Administration Bureau, said, "the management units of the Yellow River diversion irrigation areas are stepping up efforts to improve the technology of diversion canals and irrigation channels and clean up siltation, so as to improve water diversion conditions as much as possible, and strive to attract more water and irrigate quickly."

"there is little water in the Yellow River this year. The discharge of the main canal in Zhaokou Irrigation District is about 28 cubic meters per second, compared with 60 cubic meters per second in normal years. This leads to less flow of bucket canals, agricultural canals and hairy canals in the fields, and even no water to enter. In addition, many agricultural canals, hairy canals or earth canals, or did not clean up the mud and garbage, the water was lost on the road before it reached the field. These places still have to be irrigated by drilling motor wells for irrigation. " Wu Chuchang, director of the Zhaokou Branch of the East Henan Water Conservancy Administration, said, "our branch is responsible for the management and maintenance of main canals and branch canals, while the management and maintenance of the dou canals, agricultural canals, and canals below are the responsibility of the local county and township governments. The hardening and maintenance of the 'last kilometer' of farmland depends on the importance and financial ability of the county and township governments. "

It is understood that the irrigation area of the Yellow River diversion from the Yellow River in Henan involves 42 counties (cities and districts) in 13 cities under the jurisdiction of Zhengzhou and Kaifeng, with an area of 27 million mu of cultivated land and an agricultural population of more than 1830 million. The area of cultivated land and agricultural population account for about 1. 4% of the whole province.