Major progress reported in water conservation in Xizang

Over 40.33 billion yuan ($5.66 billion) has been invested in water conservancy projects in China's Xizang autonomous region during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, authorities said at a news conference on Tuesday.

It is expected that, by the end of this year, the total investment will reach 42.3 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 9.12 billion yuan compared to the previous Five-Year Plan period, and 2.5 times the planned investment for the 14th Five-Year Plan.

During the period, the Laluo Project, listed among the 172 major national water conservancy projects, has been completed and is now fully operational. The Shangchu Water Conservancy Hub and its supporting irrigation district project have also been completed and put into operation.

Meanwhile, the Pazi Water Conservancy Hub and its supporting irrigation district project, listed among the 150 major national water conservancy projects, have successfully achieved water diversion.

The total reservoir capacity in Xizang has increased by 588 million cubic meters, while the supply capacity of water conservancy projects has increased by 199 million cubic meters during the same period.

The level of rural water supply security has been continuously improved. In Xizang's 74 counties, county-level unified management of rural water supply has been implemented. Efforts have been made to advance the construction and standardization of large-scale centralized water supply projects and small-scale water supply projects in rural areas.

Shecho, deputy head of the region's department of water conservancy, said that the coverage rate of tap water in rural areas has increased by 4.7 percentage points compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan, reaching 68.7 percent.

"The proportion of the rural population covered by large-scale water supply projects has increased by 3.36 percentage points, reaching 4.36 percent, firmly maintaining the baseline of rural drinking water safety," added Shecho.