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World Bank Document Report No. PID7987 Project Name China-Yangtze Basin Flood Control... Project Region East Asia and Pacific Sector Rural Development Public Disclosure Authorized Project ID CNPE64730 Implementing Agencies Provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi Initial/Updated PID Date June 20, 1999 Appraisal Date November 8, 2000 Tentative Board Date February 17, 2000 1. Background China's rivers and floodplains have been the focus of human settlement since the dawn of civilization. The rivers were the natural transportation routes and the floodplains Public Disclosure Authorized offered vast tracts of fertile land. Today, the floodplains provide a home to the bulk of the China's population, most of its industry, and the vast tracts of farmland that feed a population of 1.275 billion people. Unfortunately, this vastly productive area is vulnerable to flooding. 2. In 1855, a flood on the Yellow River caused it to change course and this led to tremendous loss of life from drowning and famine. In 1933, the Yellow River inundated over 1 million hectares (ha), and 18,000 people died. In 1938, the Yellow River dike at Huayuankou was deliberately breached to halt the advance of enemy forces; over 5 million ha of land were flooded and many died. On the Yangtze, the 1931 event flooded 3.3 million ha and 140,000 people died, and the 1935 flood in the Han and Lishui Public Disclosure Authorized tributaries led to losses of a similar magnitude. The 1954 flood on the Yangtze, one of the worst in history, caused widespread damage and loss of life that would have been much worse without the new, recently completed dikes. The 1998 flood on the Yangtze coincided with torrential rain over the middle and lower reaches, and damage was estimated at Y 158 billion ($20 billion). 3. Dikes to protect land from the annual floods date back centuries and in some places more than 2,000 years. Since the creation of the People's Republic, these incomplete and poorly maintained dikes have been strengthened and extended. At the same time, there has been rapid growth in the value of assets protected by the dikes and this demands much higher levels of protection. In the past, a breach of a dike might destroy a low- value field crop and inundate houses and public buildings. But Public Disclosure Authorized now, the property at risk includes modern factories, processing plants, and high-value commercial real estate, and potential crop losses can range from $1,500 per ha for field crops to several times that figure for vegetable gardens and orchards. 4. The Government's strategy for tackling the flood problem has evolved over the years. Its main elements are described below. - Construction of Dikes and Protection of Riverbanks Against Erosion. Over 200,000 kilometers (km) of new and rehabilitated dikes were completed, protecting some 32 million ha of cultivated land (33 percent of the total), and about 316 million people, although the protection standards are not ideal. Among these, 56,000 km of levees are on major rivers protecting some 21 million ha of cultivated land and about 216 million people in agricultural areas of key cities, small towns and industrial centers. Construction of a dike requires that it is high enough to exclude an extreme flood. The difference in height between a dike designed for a 50-year flood and a 1,000-year flood is relatively small on most rivers and the higher level is justified by the potential losses if the dike is overtopped. Dikes are normally found on the natural riverbank some distance from the river. A common problem is seepage through the foundation material. This is known as "piping," and it can lead to such a loss of material that the bank and the dike collapse and are then overtopped. This happened at the site of the only breach of the Yangtze dikes in the 1998 flood. This problem can usually be treated by adding material to the inside (land side) face of the dike at the site where seepage appears. Bank erosion can cause bank collapse and threaten the dikes. On the Yangtze, rock aprons are placed to protect the bank. On the Yellow River, rock spurs are built to deflect the flow from the vulnerable section of riverbank. - Urban Flood Protection. Dikes also need to be constructed around cities to protect the cities from floods. There are presently 16,000 km of dikes around cities. About 530 cities out of 660 cities in the country need additional protection of key urban and industrial sites from floods. Most of the cities that are already protected need to be protected to higher levels. It is internationally recognized that, at the least, key cities need to be protected from floods of in a 100-year recurrence period. However, 80 percent of the cities in China are protected from floods of 1 in 50 years and less and 65 percent are 1 in 20 years and less. Almost 65 percent of the $130 billion of flood damage that occurred during 1990-98 was in city and township areas that had low level of protection or were unprotected. In 1996 the Government embarked on a major program on upgrading and investing in new urban flood protection. - Creation of Flood Detention Areas for Temporary Storage of Flood Waters. Detention areas can be natural lakes or low- lying areas designated for temporary flood storage. The Dongting Lake on the Yangtze serves as a natural detention area but its capacity has declined over the years because of siltation and land reclamation. The artificial detention areas, on most rivers, contain high-value farmland and other valuable assets. The use of a detention basin is, therefore, a last resort to prevent much more severe losses that would be incurred by flooding the basin. About 98 localities have been designated as flood diversion areas, providing off-stream flood storage for the major rivers, particularly in the Yangtze, Huai, Hai and Yellow River Basins. These areas have a -2 - total capacity of 97 billion cubic meters (bcm) and are capable of raising flood protection standards, typically from a 20-year return period to 50 or 60 years. However, at present there are 16 million people living in these detention basins and they have cultivated 2 million ha. The Government has embarked on a major program to safeguard the people living in these basins and also to resettle some of the people. - Dredging of River Channels and Removal of Polder Development in the Channel Areas. The natural channels often have inadequate conveyance capacity. Part of the reduction in capacity is due to siltation and part due to polders and structures built within the river channel. Dredging to enlarge channels can lead to significant increases in capacity and lower flood levels. This has been particularly successful in the lower reaches of the Huai River. However, in addition to desilting, the Government is removing the polders within the river channels. - Construction of Dams on the Rivers to Reduce Downstream Flows. Over 84,000 reservoirs, with a total storage capacity of 450 bcm, have been built, most having multipurpose functions including flood protection. Some 374 large reservoirs with a total capacity of 325 bcm, and 2,562 medium-size reservoirs with a capacity of 70 bcm have been built in the seven major river basins to regulate and mitigate flood flows. The function of dams on the main rivers and tributaries is to intercept floodwaters and thereby reduce peak flows and flood volumes. Examples of this approach are the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze and the Xiaolangdi Dam on the Yellow River. Although there are many dams on the tributaries and main stem of rivers and there is significant flood storage that could be used, about one third of the dams are unsafe. The dams that were built between 1949 and 1957 were generally of reasonable quality but the spillway and outlet capacity were grossly undersized due to lack of hydrologic information. Between 1957 and 1975 the quality of dams was very poor due to poor designs and poor construction methods. After 1975 the quality of dams built was generally of good quality. The Government has proposed Y 330 billion to upgrade and rehabilitate unsafe dams. CIDA has a $6.0 million program to assist in developing a pilot rehabilitation program for the 10 major dams and to set up institutional arrangements for large-scale dam rehabilitation programs. - Improved Drainage Systems Behind the Dikes to Mitigate Flooding Caused by Direct Rainfall. Heavy rain behind the dikes can cause flooding if high river levels impede drainage. Drainage systems must be designed to move the water out as quickly as possible after the river levels recede. Pumps are needed to drain the land when river levels are high, but it is seldom economically justified to design for more than a 10- year storm. - Soil and Water Conservation in the Drainage Basins of the Rivers. The flood problem can be aggravated by sediment accumulation in riverbeds and in the lakes connected to the rivers. In the Yellow River the riverbed in the lower reach is rising at a rate of nearly 1 meter every 10 years. Measures to -3 - curb the sediment runoff that causes this problem in the Yellow River include sediment check dams, afforestation, and terracing of the slopes. This has led to a marked decline in sediment flow in some large tributaries of the Yellow River. Sediment buildup is also present in the main rivers in the Hai He and the Huai He river basins. On the Yangtze, sediment buildup has reduced the capacity of Dongting Lake to function as a natural flood control reservoir.
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