Media reports indicate that, according to incomplete statistics, 12 Chinese cities have been inundated by rainwater in the past two months, suffering from waterlogging. The most recent case was on July 19, when parts of downtown Kunming, Yunnan, were flooded, turning the "Spring City" into a "Water City" overnight. To address urban waterlogging, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued the "Outline for the Compilation of Comprehensive Urban Drainage (Rainwater) and Waterlogging Prevention Plans" in early July, requiring all cities to compile and submit comprehensive urban drainage (rainwater) and waterlogging prevention plans. Due to a long-standing backlog of deficiencies, this large-scale urban drainage facility construction is expected to drive investment of nearly one trillion yuan.

　　Severe Historical Backlog in Urban Drainage Facilities

　　In recent years, urban waterlogging and "city sea viewing" have intensified. In the past two months, many Chinese cities have again suffered from waterlogging. Urban waterlogging is showing characteristics of wide occurrence, deep ponding, and long retention times, directly reflecting problems such as low coverage of urban drainage networks, low capacity of drainage facilities, and long-term insufficient investment in urban infrastructure.

　　For example, in Beijing over the past decade, the built-up urban area has doubled, but infrastructure such as underground pipelines has not kept pace, and the drainage network system has long been overwhelmed. In Shanghai, the coverage rate of the urban drainage network in 2008 was only about 60%. If this is the case in major metropolises, many other cities are even less optimistic.

　　Another important reason is that domestic drainage standards are generally low, and most cities adopt the lower limit of the code. According to the requirements of the latest 2011 revision of China's urban drainage facilities construction standard, the "Code for Design of Outdoor Wastewater Engineering," the design storm return period for drainage facilities in general urban areas is 1-3 years, i.e., resisting storms that occur once every 1-3 years, and only 3-5 years for important areas. In implementation, most cities generally adopt the lower limit of the standard, and more than 70% of urban drainage systems are designed for storm return periods of less than 1 year. In contrast, foreign countries generally have higher urban drainage standards to prevent waterlogging: New York uses a "10- to 15-year" standard, Tokyo "5- to 10-year," and Paris "5-year."

　　Industry insiders point out that investment in urban drainage and waterlogging prevention facilities is enormous, must be funded by local governments' own fiscal resources, and cannot recover investment gradually like housing, water, electricity, and communications systems. Therefore, many local governments have neglected and perfunctorily handled drainage facility construction, choosing the lower limit of standards or even below. The acceleration of urbanization has also led local governments and developers to overlook infrastructure construction, giving only superficial treatment to wetlands, depressions, and inland rivers. As a result, above-ground "steel forests" have risen rapidly, while underground networks are burdened with debt.

　　Therefore, strengthening the construction of urban drainage and waterlogging prevention facilities and paying off historical debts as soon as possible have become urgent tasks. Thoroughly solving the urban waterlogging problem is not simply a matter of renovating and expanding the drainage system; it requires rationalizing the existing fragmented and chaotic management systems, formulating scientific standards, and having overall planning in advance during urban construction.

　　Nearly One Trillion Yuan Investment Becomes an Important Means to Sustain Growth

　　The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development recently issued the "Outline for the Compilation of Comprehensive Urban Drainage (Rainwater) and Waterlogging Prevention Plans" (hereinafter referred to as the "Outline"), clearly listing planning content, including assessment of urban drainage and waterlogging prevention capacity and waterlogging risks, and planning of urban drainage (rainwater) pipeline network systems. The Ministry also stated that it aims to complete the separation of rainwater and sewage in drainage networks within 5 years and to build a relatively complete urban drainage and waterlogging prevention engineering system within about 10 years.

　　The "Outline" sets mandatory requirements for urban drainage and waterlogging prevention planning goals: when rainfall is within the design standard of the urban rainwater pipeline network, there should be no obvious ponding on the ground; when rainfall is within the urban waterlogging prevention standard, the city should not experience waterlogging disasters; when rainfall exceeds the urban waterlogging prevention standard, the city should operate basically normally, without causing major property losses or casualties.

　　Industry insiders point out that the "Outline" issued by the Ministry demonstrates the national-level determination to solve the urban waterlogging problem and end the distorted "debt-ridden" development model. It is a correction of the shortcomings in urban construction in recent years and will urge localities to strengthen underground drainage network construction.

　　With the issuance of the "Outline," localities across the country are actively making up for the urban drainage backlog. The upgrading and renovation of urban drainage systems also breeds huge investment opportunities. Industry insiders predict that in the next 8 to 10 years, the upgrading and renovation of urban drainage networks may attract investment of over one trillion yuan.

　　According to incomplete statistics, Chongqing plans to complete 22 billion yuan of water conservancy investment in 2013; Beijing has also proposed to invest 2.12 billion yuan during the "12th Five-Year Plan" period to basically complete a rainwater-sewage separation drainage system and upgrade and renovate drainage pipelines in the central urban area; and in 2013, Tianjin Water Affairs will spend 10 billion yuan on livelihood projects.

　　A Yangtze River Securities analysis report shows that China's total investment in sewage pipelines during the "12th Five-Year Plan" period will reach 244.3 billion yuan. Generally, for every sewage pipe laid along a road, two corresponding rainwater pipes are built, so investment in rainwater pipes is twice that of sewage pipes, accounting for 2/3 of the total drainage pipeline engineering investment. By this calculation, during the "12th Five-Year Plan" period, the national total investment in drainage pipelines will be about 732.9 billion yuan, averaging 146.58 billion yuan per year.