China Bolsters Flood and Drought Defenses Amidst Climate Change

China is increasing its efforts to develop a disaster prevention and control system for droughts and floods. This is in response to the more extreme weather events linked to global warming. Officials have stated that China is particularly sensitive to climate change and is experiencing more frequent and intense extreme weather, leading to severe disasters like heavy rainfall, floods, and droughts.

As of a recent Friday, a significant number of rivers had water levels exceeding flood control alert thresholds. Extreme downpours have caused disasters such as mountain floods, landslides, and urban waterlogging in certain areas.

In response to these challenges, China released guidelines last month, before the main flood season. These guidelines propose accelerating the construction of a new approach to flood control and disaster reduction in river basins. The focus is on prioritizing people and emphasizing systematic planning. The goal is to significantly improve flood control capabilities by 2035, with a modernized system in place.

With the country entering the main flood season, characterized by regional and sequential occurrences of droughts and flood disasters, the Ministry of Water Resources is working to prevent casualties, dam failures, and damage to critical infrastructure. Efforts are being made to coordinate river basins and regions, combining engineering and non-engineering solutions. This aims to improve resilience to climate change and strengthen preparedness for extreme rainstorms.

This includes improving the flood control engineering system, which includes reservoirs, river channels, embankments, and flood detention areas. The goal is to actively control floods by using measures such as flood storage, detention, discharge, and drainage.

The country has plans for constructing water networks, including major projects for flood control and water supply in river basins. Newly established large-scale reservoirs have increased water supply and flood control capacity. Ongoing projects are expected to further increase water supply and flood control capacity.

Central investment will be provided to ensure the timely construction and maintenance of these projects. A digital twin hydraulic system is being used to enhance the coordinated management of these engineering solutions. This system allows for dynamic simulation of flood scenarios, refinement of scheduling plans, and coordinated flood control.

In addition, the country is working to improve its monitoring and forecasting system for rainfall. This includes optimizing the distribution of meteorological and hydrological monitoring stations. The aim is to improve rainfall forecasts, early warnings, simulations, and contingency planning, thereby extending the lead time for forecasting and improving the accuracy of flood disaster predictions. The number of hydrological monitoring stations has increased, and flood forecast precision has improved for major rivers.