Ecological restoration project brings new life to Dunhuang's Crescent Moon Spring (4)

Photo shows a pool used in the ecological restoration project of the Crescent Moon Spring. (Photo/xinhuanet.com)

Thanks to an ecological restoration project initiated three years ago, Yueya Spring, or Crescent Moon Spring, a geological wonder located about 6 km south of Dunhuang city in northwest China's Gansu province, has gradually seen its water levels rising again.

This rare oasis in the desert owes its name to the shape of the spring, or more precisely, the pond fed by the spring water, which resembles a crescent noon. However, since the 1970s, the water level of the Crescent Moon Spring has declined each year, until eventually the bed could be seen at the end of the 1990s.

What was behind the sharp drop in the water level of Crescent Moon Spring? Experts pointed out that due to the rapid economic and social development in Dunhuang and the completion of the Dang River Reservoir in 1975, the recharging of groundwater in the upper reaches of the Crescent Moon Spring was greatly reduced, resulting in a substantial drop in the regional water level as well as the water level in the Spring.

As a result, the water replenishment project for the Crescent Moon Spring was listed as one of the eight planned projects in the Comprehensive Plan for Rational Utilization and Ecological Protection of Water Resources in Dunhuang approved by the State Council in 2011. In July 2018, the water replenishment project was completed.

"When carrying out the water replenishment project, we first tried to increase the infiltration and supply of surface water by constructing low dams to recharge the water. Meanwhile, we restricted the exploitation of groundwater in the vicinity of the Crescent Moon Spring and raised the groundwater level in the key area of the upper reaches of the Spring, alleviating the downtrend of the surrounding groundwater level," explained Deng Wei, deputy director of the Danghe River basin water resources administration.

"Over the past three years, the water level of the Crescent Moon Spring has risen steadily, with the average water depth rising from 1.35 meters to about 1.60 meters. Meanwhile, the shape of the crescent moon on the water surface has also become plumper," said Li Shizhu, head of the quality safety and operation management section of the Danghe River basin water resources administration and head of the Crescent Moon Spring restoration and water replenishment project.

Crescent Spring serves as a barometer of the ecological "health status" of Dunhuang. According to Li, the water replenishment efforts in the Crescent Moon Spring have started to pay off, and the water level is becoming stable.