In the past frequent flooding of the Yellow River earned it the nickname "China's Sorrow." But as China's population grew, so did pressure on the river. So much water was used for agriculture and other purposes that during the 1990s the river failed to reach the ocean for an average of four months a year. Stronger water management policies put in place in 1998 have kept the river flowing to the sea since 1999. But the flow is still insufficient to maintain the river's ecosystem. Environmental concerns have to be balanced with the needs of agriculture, industry and the people who depend on the river for drinking water. The Yellow River starts high in the Tibetan Plateau and crosses 9 provinces and autonomous regions over 5,400 km before reaching the sea.
What can be done to make water use in the Yellow River Basin more efficient? What are the economic impacts of effective water use?
Ni hao, you're listening to
People In the Know, bringing you insights into the headline news in China and around the world, online at crienglish.com, and here on China Radio International. In today's program we'll discuss water management in China's Yellow River Basin.
First, we'll speak with Claudia Ringler, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Access to water is an important factor in reducing rural poverty. For more on how water management can improve rural living conditions we go now to Wang Jinxia, professor of agricultural economics at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
And with that we close out this edition of People In the Know, online at crienglish.com here on China Radio International.
