National General Administration of Prevention: the drought in the western part of Northeast China is developing rapidly.

Chen Lei, deputy commander-in-chief of the State Defense General and Minister of Water Resources, presided over the Chamber of Commerce of the State General Defense Association on the 13th. The meeting held that the drought situation in the whole country has shown a trend of development recently. Although the drought in the eastern part of the northwest, the eastern part of the southwest and the western part of Huang-Huai has been basically alleviated by rainfall, the drought in the western part of the northeast has developed rapidly and the drought-affected area is relatively large.

The discussion shows that since the beginning of summer, there has been less precipitation in Northeast, Northwest, North China, Huang-Huai and some areas in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, insufficient water storage in water conservancy projects, and serious drought in some provinces and regions. In particular, since June, the rainfall in most of Liaoning, western Jilin, eastern Hebei, most of Henan and northern Hubei is 50 to 70 percent less than that of the normal year, and the rainfall of Liaoning and Jilin since July is the least since 1961. The inflow from the main rivers in the north is obviously less than that in the normal years, 30 to 50 percent less in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, 60 to 70 percent less in the upper and middle reaches of the Huaihe River, and 50 percent less in the Liaohe River. The water storage of reservoirs in northern arid areas is less than that in normal years, and that in Henan, Liaoning and Jilin is 10% to 40% less.

According to the statistics of the State General Administration of Prevention and Control as of August 13, 12 provinces and regions, including Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, and Xinjiang, and the Xinjiang production and Construction Corps had a crop drought area of 74.99 million mu (an average of 120 million mu over the same period of many years). There are 2.34 million people and 2.53 million head of large livestock due to drought and drinking water difficulties (the average for the same period of many years is 10.11 million people and 7.22 million heads). Among them, the area of crops affected by drought in Liaoning, Jilin and Inner Mongolia has reached 44.26 million mu, accounting for about 60% of the total drought area in the country.

It is estimated that in the middle and late August, the precipitation in the south of Northeast China, the northern part of North China, Huang-Huai and Jianghuai is still on the low side, and the local area is more than 30% less. The drought may continue to develop, and the possibility of continuous drought in summer and autumn cannot be ruled out. Chen Lei pointed out: all localities should be based on fighting against severe and long droughts, organize and guide arid areas to further strengthen drought relief work, make every effort to ensure the safety of drinking water for urban and rural residents, and strive to win a bumper harvest this year.