How did the effectiveness of watershed management fall into the prosperous days? (Beautiful China·Dahe New Look)

As the beginning of winter approaches, the wind on the loess plateau is already carrying a chill. In Feng Nanyuan Village, Shizhuang Township, Huozhou City, Linfen, Shanxi, villager Shi Xinping had just finished working in the vegetable greenhouse and hurried home to thresh corn. "This is a good year!"

This good year comes from the systematic management of the entire Fenhe River, the second largest tributary of the Yellow River.

In the early years, most of the houses in Fengnanyuan Village were built in the 1970s and were mostly brick and earth structures.

In the autumn of 2021, Huozhou City encountered the strongest autumn flood since meteorological records began. The rainfall was nearly five times more than the same period in normal years, and the Fen River formed its largest flood peak since 1993. At that time, 29 houses of 19 households in the village collapsed, 65 houses of 42 households were damaged, and the main access to the village was interrupted.

The four cave dwellings of villager Shi Hongbing's family all collapsed after a heavy rainfall. "Thanks to the township cadres, we were able to move safely." In the first winter after the disaster, Division Hongbing moved into a prefabricated house rebuilt on the original site, which was "strong and warm."

However, new problems lie ahead. How to better prepare in advance before the next heavy rainfall comes?

A weather observation station standing in the northwest of the village and surrounded by a white fence gives the answer.

Xi Guangming, head of Huozhou Rural Revitalization Service Center, said that the city built weather stations in areas that suffered severe disasters and areas prone to flash floods to improve early warning capabilities. Currently, there are 52 precipitation monitoring equipment in the city, which monitor weather changes in real time during the flood season and link with the emergency command center. "The village has also established a communication group. During important farming and flood seasons, weather and other conditions will be promptly reported to the group to provide early warning." Shi Xinping said.

Relevant engineering measures have also been continuously improved. Cao Deping, secretary of the village party branch, said that in the past two years, the village has renovated 4.2 kilometers of flood drains to properly divert water; planted 300,000 green seedlings to solidify soil, protect slopes, and conserve water and soil... Now, once there is a flood, early warning can be given and people can be safely relocated.

The 4.2-kilometer flood drainage channel solves the problem of "where does the water go" in Feng Nanyuan Village. But the safety of this watershed cannot be limited to Feng Nanyuan Village.

The sight turned to the urban area of ​​Huozhou, where the main stream of the Fen River passed through the city. In the Huozhou City section of the Fen River, the water surface is wide, water birds are playing on the river, and many citizens are exercising on the greenway next to the dam. Liu Yang, director of the River Chief Implementation Center of the Huozhou Water Conservancy Bureau, pointed to the greenway and said: "It used to be a tidal flat, and people couldn't walk down it." When the water level was at its highest in 2021, the water here almost overflowed the dam.

At that time, there were more than one shortcomings. Many embankments in the Huozhou City section of the Fen River have missing or outdated sections, some main channel bank protections are incoherent, the flood-carrying sections are insufficient, and there is a lack of full-length flood-carrying channels. Many rivers have been in disrepair for a long time, and the mortar stonework on both sides has been damaged a lot. When encountering heavy rainfall, the embankments are prone to danger.

"In 2023, Shanxi launched the 'A Clear Water Flows into the Yellow River' ecological protection project. The key task is to conduct basin-wide system management of the main stream of the Fen River and its main tributaries, and to coordinate pollution control, water diversion, dredging, humidification, and green banks. Nine projects in Huozhou City are included in it. After the implementation of the project, the basin management capacity has been greatly improved." Liu Yang said.

"The change is on the air shield dam in the center of the water." Liu Yang pointed at the water and said.

Looking from the shore, one can only see the water flowing over a low platform, and there is nothing hidden under the water. Yan Huijun, head of the technical team of the Fenhe Huozhou Section Comprehensive Management Project Department, explained: In the dry season, the air shield dam is inflated to lift up the shield plate to store water; in the flood season, the air shield dam is exhausted, and the shield plate completely collapses to discharge floods. This structurally solves the problems of the original rubber dam being exposed, aging, afraid of impact, and frost heaving and cracking in northern winter. With the air shield dam, the flood control capacity of the river has been improved, and the surrounding ecological environment has been restored.

After the treatment, the flood control standards of the Fenhe Huozhou urban section have been greatly improved. The Fenhe River Basin ecological management project has continued to advance. The urban section has achieved water storage in the entire river section. Water-friendly platforms, riverside trails, cultural parks, etc. have also been launched along both sides of the river. "In the past, the banks of the Fen River were overgrown with grass. Now, the river is clear and the egrets have returned." said Liu Yanfeng, head of the Water Defense Section of the Huozhou Branch of the Linfen Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau.

In Huozhou City's "A Clear Water Flows into the Yellow River" ecological protection project, the first project is the Huozhou City Rural Domestic Sewage Treatment Project, which has built a total of 7 rural sewage treatment stations.

The newly built pipelines are integrated into the urban sewage collection network. The sewage pipeline in Fengnanyuan Village is the end of this network extending to the Loess Plateau. This pipeline only does one thing: to prevent domestic sewage from the plateau from being discharged directly into ditches and rivers. Once this is done, the village will have the conditions to connect catering, B&B, and study tourists to the plateau, turning the treated ecological base into an interface where industries can settle.

Today, 8 vegetable greenhouses have been successfully trial-planted, and the steamed bun processing workshop has been put into operation. Restaurants in the village rely on their own selenium-rich wheat flour and greenhouse fruits and vegetables to launch special products such as selenium-rich wheat steamed buns, fruit and vegetable lattes...

The villagers' feelings are more direct. "There used to be little greenery in the village, but now it's like a park." Shi Hongbing said.

Walking into Feng Nanyuan Village today, 5G base stations stand quietly, the roads are wide and smooth, and street lights are lined up along the village road. Many people have photovoltaic energy storage equipment installed in their homes. The village has held the "Feng Nanyuan Celebrates the New Year" event for several consecutive years, receiving more than 100,000 tourists in total. The experience of Weifeng gongs and drums, Pu Opera, and New Year's steamed bun production is booming. The village on the Loess Plateau has a new look.

From the flood drainage channel in Feng Nanyuan Village to the systematic management of the Fenhe River in Huozhou City, there are new scenes and hope everywhere on both sides of the Fenhe River.