Anti-Flood Projects Around Taihu Lake Pay Off
The anti-flood projects in the Taihu Lake area have helped avoid economic losses of more than 9.2 billion yuan (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) in this year's flood season.
The 2,400-sq-km Taihu Lake is the country's third largest fresh- water lake. It is located on the border between the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, two of East China's economic powerhouses.
According to Wu Tailai, deputy director and chief engineer of the Taihu Administration Bureau, the dikes surrounding the lake have helped store and discharge nearly 4.6 billion cu m of flood water since this year's rainy season started.
He said that the anti-flood projects were the first in China for which World Bank loans were used.
The projects started in 1991.
"If it were not for these anti-flood projects, the current water level of Taihu Lake would be 40 cm higher than it is, and the lake valley would have 900 million more cu m of flood water this year," Wu explained.
He said that the economic losses avoided this year are estimated to be equivalent to twice the total cost of the projects. (Xinhua)
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