Farmlands in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
will be short of 1.9 billion cubic meters water this spring, said
an official with the regional water conservancy department
Thursday.
Zhang Jinmin, vice director of the flood control and drought
relief office under the water conservancy department said that the
warm 2006 winter with its little snow, and this spring's high
temperatures, meant that farmlands are threatened with a severe
water shortage.
Xinjiang is a typical drought and semi-drought region and is
facing a severe seasonal water shortage, said the regional weather
bureau. Rainfall in north Xinjiang this year is 50 percent down on
normal years, and down an alarming 90 percent in the southern part
of the region.
Farmland, grasslands and pastures are all suffering from
drought, creating drinking water difficulties for both people and
cattle.
Local governments are testing innovative water-saving irrigation
systems, adjusting crop structures, and digging new wells to
relieve drought.
The drought situation is unlikely to improve over the next two
months, with temperatures in most parts of Xinjiang remaining above
average, and little rainfall in south Xinjiang.
(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2007)
