China Water: November 04, 2008: Xinjiang water --Tarim river

This story is a little bit confusing, probably due to confusion by the writer or else translator or perhaps both. It appears that sections of the Tarim river have dried up and therefore the government has taken to "injecting" water somewhere, probably into the ground to raise the level of the underground aquifer. I will try to do an update on the situation if my time allows.


http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/english/200011/03/eng20001103_54317.html

China Injects Water Into Dry River Course
China began discharging water into the dry lower reaches of the Tarim River, the longest inland river in China, at 1 pm Friday.

The operation, the second launched this year, is expected to play a very important role in maintaining sound ecology along the section of the Tarim River, experts said.

A total of 220 million cubic meters of water will be injected into the 180-kilometer section of the dry river course from Friday until February 15, 2001. The first operation between April 30 and July 20 sent 100 million cubic meters of water into the dry river section.

The 1,321-kilometer-long Tarim River runs from west to east along the northern verge of the Taklimakan Desert, the biggest moving desert in the country, and flows into the Taitema Lake in Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

The 320-kilometer-long section of the lower reaches of the river and the Taitema Lake dried up in 1972 following the construction of a reservoir on the river which blocked water from flowing into the lower reaches.

Sources from the local water resources department said that the water was diverted from the Bosten Lake, 530 kilometers away, into the Daxihaizi Reservoir, the current terminal of the Tarim River, and then discharged into the dry lower reaches.

Monitoring data of the Ministry of Water Resources show that the first water-injecting operation raised the underground water level of the river course by 3.15 meters, and remarkable increases were also recorded in areas along both banks of the river.

Zhang Fawang, director of the bureau for management of Tarim River valley, said that the current operation will help raise the underground water level by more than 3 meters on the current level.

Before the first water-injecting operation, the underground water level was seven to nine meters under the earth surface.

China Water: November 17, 2008: Xinjiang water plant on Tarim river

Xinjiang Builds Water-Efficiency Project
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is building a water-efficiency project at the headwater of the Tarim River, the longest inland river in China.

The total investment for the project is estimated at 2.5 billion yuan, of which, US$150 million (about 18 million yuan) will be provided by the World Bank.

The project is aimed to save water for agricultural use to irrigate a large track of diversiform-leaved poplar, which is withering as a result of a lack of water.


http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/english/200011/17/eng20001117_55433.html


At present, farmers in Wensu county, which lies on the river's upper reaches, are repairing a 40-km-long canal to prevent seepage.

Neighboring Awat County has invested 58 million yuan to renovate a leaking 33-km-long irrigation canal. Upon completion, 60 million cubic meters of water will be saved annually.

The 1,321-kilometer Tarim River runs west to east along the northern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, the biggest moving desert in the country, and flows into the Taitema Lake in Xinjiang.

Due to the sharp increase in water use on the upper and middle reaches, the river has become shorter and shorter. At present, 320 kilometers of the river below the Daxihaizi Reservoir, the current end of the river, have dried up.