Fixing China´s quake-damaged reservoirs to cost $5.5 bln this year

Source: Xinhua | 02-19-2009 16:16

CHENGDU, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- About half of the 2,125 reservoirs damaged in last May's massive earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province can be repaired this year, a water resources official said here Thursday.

Leng Gang, director of the Sichuan water resources department, said the provincial government would spend more than 37.7 billion yuan (5.5 billion U.S. dollars) this year to fix 1,000 damaged reservoirs and 378 km of embankment.

The projects "will solve drinking water problems for 5 million people," he said.

Leng said reservoir reconstruction was scheduled for completion by the end of next year.

He also said the agricultural province lacked sufficient drinking and irrigation water even before the 8.0-magnitude quake. For example, only 55 percent of its arable land was effectively irrigated.