Progress in Flood Control, Drought Relief and Disaster Mitigation in 2014

Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters

1 An Overview of Floods and Droughts Disaster in 2014

In 2014, floods and droughts occurred alternately. Floods that caused the warning stage to be exceeded occurred in 343 small and medium-sized rivers nationwide, while floods that caused the highest safety stage to be exceeded occurred in 62 rivers. Heavy floods that surpassed the highest historical record occurred in 21 rivers. 23 tropical cyclones formed, 5 of which made landfall in China and 3 landed for at least 3 times. The super typhoon, Ramasoon, landed with Beaufort wind force scale 17 and is the strongest one of the typhoons that have landed in mainland China since 1949. Severe floods and flash floods occurred in small and medium-sized rivers in some areas. The earthquake in Yunnan Province caused frequent secondary disasters. Droughts occurred in winter, spring and summer in northern winter-wheat, southwestern and northeastern areas as well as some areas of the Yellow River, Huaihe River and Haihe River basins.

73.82 million people nationwide were hit by flood and waterlogging disasters and the death toll caused by the disasters reached 485 and the number of missing people was 92. Crops on an area of 88.79 million mu (5.92 million hm2) were affected by the disasters and 260,000 houses collapsed due to the disasters, all of which resulted in a direct economic loss of RMB 157.4 billion (USD 25.39 billion). Crops nationwide on an area of 180 million mu (12.27 million hm2) were affected by droughts. The droughts caused a reduction in grain production by 20.06 million tons, RMB 27.6 billion (USD 4.45 billion) worth of damage to economic crops, and a direct economic loss of RMB 91 billion (USD 14.68 billion). The droughts also made it difficult for 17.83 million people to have access to drinking water. Compared with the average in the year 2000, the death toll caused by floods and waterlogging is the smallest. The population and crop area affected by the disasters and collapsed houses decrease by 43%, 47% and 76% respectively. The area affected by droughts, grain loss and population with difficulty in drinking water decrease by 43%, 33% and 28% respectively.

2 Progress in Flood Control and Drought Relief

The Central Government has attached great importance to flood control and drought relief. Remarkable achievements were made in 2014. No key levees breached nationwide. No dams with large and medium-sized reservoirs broke. The death toll caused by flood and waterlogging was the smallest in history. In 2014, we evacuated a total population of 6.75 million, rescued 770,000 people who were left stranded because of floods, avoided 19.90 million casualties, protected 20.08 million mu (1.34 million hm2) of cultivated area from being flooded, reduced grain loss by 2.98 million tons, and protected 93 cities from floods. The benefit from water-related disaster mitigation reached RMB 37.9 billion (USD 6.11 billion). By drought relief, we reduced the grain loss by 31.39 million tons, and the cash crop loss by RMB 29.8 billion (USD 4.81 billion). Water use of basic living was guaranteed for 16.56 million people with difficulty in drinking water.

First, focus was on prevention and sound preparations were made before the flood season. Before the flood season, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters (hereinafter refers to SFCDRH) held several meetings to deploy overall flood control and drought relief efforts. It circulated the name list of the persons assuming administrative responsibility for flood control and drought relief efforts in the whole country, organized pre-flood inspections, and confirmed the readiness of the professional emergency teams and materials for flood control and drought relief.

Second, scientific scheduling was executed to give full play to the function of the water conservancy projects. Following the organization by SFCDRH, the flood control and drought relief commands for some relevant river basins and provinces dispatched large reservoirs such as Xin'anjiang, Wuqiangxi, Fengtan, and Zhexi to effectively intercept the floods and regulate their peaks, reducing the flood control pressure on lower reaches of the Qiantangjiang River and Yuanshui River. SFCDRH also organized the implementation of emergency water diversion for drought relief in Pingdingshan City and emergency ecological water diversion from the Nansihu Lake. The efforts guaranteed drinking water safety for over one million residents of Pingdingshan City and improved the ecological environment of the Nansihu Lake and the areas around it. In addition, SFCDRH enhanced water storage at the end of the flood season. The Three Gorges Reservoir attained its experimental water storage goal for 5 consecutive years by storing water to 175 m level. The Danjiangkou Reservoir stored water to the highest level in its history, offering sufficient water for the operation of the Middle Route of South-to-North Water Diversion Project. The water storage at the Xiaolangdi Reservoir was the second highest in its history.

Fengtan Hydropower Station, Hunan Province

Third, SFCDRH took the initiative to deal with flood situation and made great efforts to enhance all defensive measures. It stepped up the 24 hours emergency duty system to closely monitor precipitation, flood, and drought situations and timely held video meetings with the flood control and drought relief commands for the relevant provinces (autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government) and river basins. It has initiated 10 emergency responses,issued over 100 circulars and dispatch orders, and sent out over 200 task forces, expert teams, and supervisor teams to the disaster-stricken areas. It arranged RMB 3.6 billion (USD 581 million) of subsidies and allotted emergency flood control and disaster mitigation materials to disaster stricken areas in Yunnan Province and Guangdong Province. It also timely dealt with the barrier lakes and dangers with reservoirs and dykes caused by earthquake in Ludian, Yongshan, Yingjiang, and Jinggu of Yunnan Province, safeguarding local residents and water conservancy projects.

Fourth, SFCDRH carried out disaster prevention and control in accordance with law and improved on the flood control and drought relief working mechanism. It revised, printed, and issued Working System of SFCDRH and Duties of SFCDRH Member Units and enhanced its working mechanism featuring unified command and joint efforts in disaster relief. It worked out Flood Control Plan for the Yellow River, Emergency Dispatch Contingency Plan for Drought Relief on the Main Stream of the Yellow River, Flood Dispatch Plan for the Pearl River, Flood Dispatch Plan for the Songhuajiang River, and Flood Dispatch Plan for the Zhangwei River and improved the plan and contingency plan systems.It printed and issued Advices on Strengthening Drought Relief Service Organization and Equipment Management and strengthened the standardized management of the emergency teams.It printed and issued the Measures on Construction of Mountain Flood Prevention and Control Projects and Management of Their Fund Use, Detailed Rules on Construction Management of Flood Risk Figure Preparing Projects, and Measures on Construction Management of Drought-relief Emergency Water Source Projects,and standardized the construction management of the relevant projects.

Fifth, SFCDRH addressed both the impacts and causes flood disasters and laid a solid foundation for flood control and drought relief efforts. Remarkable success was achieved in the comprehensive improvement of major rivers and lakes, repair and reinforcement of the reservoirs with hazards, and harnessing of small and medium-sized rivers. SFCDRH arranged RMB 4.3 billion (USD 693.55 million) of fund for mountain flood prevention and control, increased monitoring and early warning facilities, and improved the all involved monitoring and prevention system. It upgraded its capability to investigate, assess, and forecast mountain floods and treated several key mountain ravines against torrents. It printed and issued the Implementing Scheme of National Drought relief Plan (2014-2016)and arranged RMB 10 billion (USD 1.61 billion) to build drought relief emergency water source projects. It organized the preparation of the Flood hazard mapping for key areas and approved the Flood Impact Assessment Report of the New Beijing Airport. The phase-Ⅱ project of the national flood-control and drought-relief commanding system has fulfilled RMB 590 million (USD 95 million) of investment.

Danjiangkou Dam, Hubei Province