To enhance water resource regulation and storage capacity and effectively address regional, seasonal, and structural water shortages, since the beginning of this year Xinjiang has commenced construction on a large number of water conservancyengineering projects, accelerating the building of the main framework and major arteries of the region's water network.

According to information learned at a press conference on the construction of major water conservancy projects in Xinjiang held on the 22nd, since the beginning of this year Xinjiang has accelerated water conservancy project construction, with cumulative investment completed reaching 30.12 billion yuan, an increase of 18% over 2022. Among these, nine major water conservancy projects, including Kurgan, Dashi Gorge, and Yulong Kashgar, have completed cumulative investment of 9.183 billion yuan, accounting for 81.99% of the annual plan.

Jiao Quanxi, deputy director of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Department of Water Resources, introduced that the 32 small and medium-sized reservoir projects under continuation and newly started this year in Xinjiang have completed cumulative investment of 3.675 billion yuan. Among them, the Niya Water Conservancy Hub Project and the Momoke Reservoir, which are listed in the autonomous region government work report, have successfully closed their gates and begun impoundment, and the projects have begun to deliver benefits.

Since the beginning of this year, through centralized and unified management and precise systematic allocation, Xinjiang has achieved the goals of "more supply, more allocation, more irrigation, and more storage" in regional water supply and use, as well as "steady improvement in river and lake ecology," despite incoming water being 10% less than the same period last year. At the same time, while ensuring flood control safety, Xinjiang has also strengthened scientific interception and storage to increase reservoir impoundment. This year, the resource utilization of floodwater has reached 1.72 billion cubic meters, maximizing the benefits of water resources.