On November 2, the Provincial Department of Water Resources organized and convened the provincial promotion meeting on national bond-funded water conservancy projects and the Three-Year Water Network Construction Breakthrough Action, reviewing tasks, analyzing problems, and strengthening measures to once again tighten the screws for completing the annual targets and tasks.
Since the Three-Year Water Network Construction Breakthrough Action was launched in May last year, the province's water conservancy system has actively implemented all construction tasks with a sense of urgency that brooks no delay. In 2023, the province completed water conservancy investment of 30.7 billion yuan across all funding sources, achieving 102.3% of the target task; from January to October this year, the province has completed water conservancy investment of 29.274 billion yuan, 88.7% of the annual target task.
Seizing opportunities to systematically plan major projects
On the morning of November 12, at the construction site of the Xuanwei Reservoir project in Tietang Village, Xuanwei Town, Majiang County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, dozens of heavy trucks shuttled back and forth, and more than a hundred construction workers were busy at their respective posts, carrying out the three connections and one leveling work and diversion tunnel lining.
The Xuanwei Reservoir project is a Class II large (2) type reservoir, a controlling hub construction project in the national "14th Five-Year Plan" Water Security Guarantee Plan, and a major water conservancy project listed in the "Opinions of the State Council on Supporting Guizhou in Breaking New Ground in the Large-Scale Development of the Western Region in the New Era." This major project, benefiting more than 800,000 people with an estimated total investment of 5.287 billion yuan, can be called a major undertaking in our province's water conservancy investment and construction this year.
Xuanwei Reservoir project construction site
On June 25, the Xuanwei Reservoir project started construction, marking the achievement of our province's goal of fully starting construction of large reservoirs in all cities (prefectures). Earlier, on May 31, the Huatanzi Reservoir project—a national major water conservancy project and the first large reservoir in Tongren City—had already started construction.
Affected by topography and landforms, the uneven temporal and spatial distribution of water resources and engineering-related water shortage have always been the main causes of water shortage in our province. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has elevated water conservancy construction to a strategic height of national economic security, food security, ecological security, and energy security for overall planning and layout. Guizhou Province has also accelerated the implementation of water conservancy construction projects, seized opportunities, and taken solving the problem of engineering-related water shortage and ensuring water security as a foundational supporting strategy for economic and social development, continuously enhancing water resource regulation and supply capacity.
Building on a series of water conservancy actions such as the "Three Major Battles" of water conservancy construction, the Well-off Water Action Plan, and the Hundred Reservoirs Battle, in May 2023, the "Guizhou Province Water Network Construction Three-Year Breakthrough Action Plan (2023–2025)" was released, planning to further consolidate the foundation of people's livelihood water conservancy through three years of breakthrough efforts and effectively solve problems in water sources, water networks, systems and mechanisms, and other aspects of our province's water conservancy construction.
Exerting efforts on both fronts, "diversified investment" in project construction
"Complete the construction of 316 key water source projects, implement 102 water network connectivity projects and a batch of rural water supply guarantee projects, and add 1.3 billion cubic meters of designed water supply capacity for water conservancy projects." The goals of Guizhou's Three-Year Water Network Construction Breakthrough Action are clear.
For large-scale water conservancy construction, where does the money come from? Our province insists on government and enterprises working together, transforming "single-source investment" into "diversified investment." While seeking increased investment from central and local governments, it gives full play to the role of water conservancy enterprises at all levels and the leveraging role of government investment, improves the profitability of water conservancy projects, and attracts social capital through multiple channels to participate in the investment and financing of water conservancy projects.
According to the "Guizhou Province '14th Five-Year Plan' Water Conservancy Development Plan," during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period our province will focus on water network construction and complete water conservancy construction investment of 161 billion yuan. In the first two years of the "14th Five-Year Plan," 57.445 billion yuan of investment has been completed; in the remaining three years of the "14th Five-Year Plan" and even a longer period, the province's water conservancy sector will maintain an annual investment scale of more than 30 billion yuan to meet the funding needs of water conservancy development.
At the same time, the Provincial Department of Water Resources fully supports the Provincial Water Investment Group in leveraging financial funds and social capital through market-based methods, encourages the formation of strategic cooperation with large state-owned enterprises, and supports water conservancy project construction throughout the province.
In 2023, the Provincial Department of Water Resources and the Provincial Water Investment Group jointly went to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and other places to carry out investment promotion for water conservancy project construction. In July of the same year, the Provincial Department of Water Resources signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the South-to-North Water Diversion Group, and the Provincial Water Investment Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Three Gorges Group; central enterprises participated in Guizhou's water conservancy construction and operation management through equity participation, capital contribution for new establishment, and share transfers. In July this year, China Railway Group Limited was innovatively introduced to participate in the investment and construction of the Huatanzi Reservoir, further promoting the implementation of "exerting efforts on both fronts."
Adapting measures to circumstances, water conservancy reform advances steadily
Water conservancy reform, as one of the key tasks of Guizhou's Three-Year Water Network Construction Breakthrough Action, involves water security guarantee support, water conservancy investment and financing, rational utilization of water resources, and operation and management of water projects, carrying out a "quality improvement and upgrading" of Guizhou's water conservancy at the institutional level.
Water management staff in Guanfenghai Town, Weining Autonomous County, replacing a water pump
Effective management and protection of water conservancy facilities and equipment is the key to long-term benefits. In the past, rural water supply projects were prone to damage due to the lack of effective management and protection, leading to unstable water use or even situations where people had no water to use. In recent years, our province has further explored market-based operation mechanisms for water conservancy project management, promoting scaled construction, enterprise-based operation, standardized management, and informatized services for urban and rural water supply through channels such as revitalizing state-owned companies, cross-regional cooperation, and investment promotion, gradually achieving long-term operation of construction, management, maintenance, and use of urban and rural water supply.
"Now there are professionals managing the water, and we feel very confident using it. Our home water heaters and flush toilets are all in use." Speaking of the current water use, Liu Dayue, a villager from Shaoshang Village, Xiashan Town, Xingren City, is very satisfied. Opening his phone contacts, the phone number of water management staff Wang Hailong is saved there: "If there's any problem with the water, give him a call and he'll come to handle it right away."
Wang Hailong is an employee of Xingren City Yulu Water Conservancy and Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. and also the water management staff for the Xiashan area, responsible for water management tasks for more than 900 households of villagers in the region. To ensure stable water use for rural residents, the company has more than 90 water management staff busy in villages throughout the city every day.
A relevant person in charge of the Xingren City Water Affairs Bureau introduced that the city has gradually transferred rural water supply projects to company management, basically completing the transfer of all rural centralized water supply projects serving more than 1,000 people, basically establishing the county-level water supply enterprise management system, and the proportion of the city's rural water supply population under company-based management has reached 93%. It is understood that our province will strive to achieve county-level unified management in all counties and districts of the province by 2026 and gradually improve the quality of water supply services.
Promoting county-level unified management of rural water supply is only one aspect of our province's efforts to strengthen water security guarantee. At the same time, our province is also continuously exploring and advancing reservoir management, water price reform, water resource trading, and other areas, contributing to stabilizing the province's overall economy through the continuous development of the water conservancy sector.
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