Irrigation projects gain world heritage status

Another four ancient Chinese irrigation projects have been designated as World Heritage Irrigation Structures, increasing the number of Chinese facilities on the WHIS list to 34, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

The inclusion of the Qimenyan Irrigation System, the Hongze Lake Irrigation System, the Huoquan Spring Irrigation System and the Baini Weirs into the list was announced during the 74th International Executive Council Meeting, the highest decision-making body of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, in India on Saturday.

Launched by the commission in 2014, the WHIS designation aims to protect and promote irrigation projects of historical value and scientific experience.

The Qimenyan Irrigation System in Anhui province dates back over 2,200 years, and still irrigates about 13,000 hectares of farmland.

Construction on the Hongze Lake Irrigation System in Jiangsu province commenced in 199 AD, and provides irrigation to over 32,000 hectares of farmland.

The Huoquan Spring Irrigation System in northern Shanxi province has a history of nearly 1,400 years, and still plays a role in irrigation, water supply, ecology and tourism.

With a history of about 1,000 years, the Baini Weirs in Hubei province is also an operational facility, playing roles in irrigation, flood control, drought relief and water supply.

Chen Mingzhong, director of rural water resources and hydropower with the Ministry of Water Resources, said China has rich irrigation engineering heritage.

Compared with many other countries, China's civilization has not been interrupted in its course of thousands of years. Because of this, Chinese projects on the WHIS list usually have a long history, he said.

"Many of these irrigation projects are still in use today and continue to play a significant role. Now, some of the projects even play bigger roles than they did," he said.

Dating back thousands of years, he said, many of the Chinese WHIS projects have weathered climate changes in different eras and have demonstrated high resilience.

Boasting rich wisdom in harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, they deserve in-depth research to help cope with emerging problems, he said.

Along with the four Chinese projects, another 15 irrigation projects in countries including India, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Thailand and Turkiye were added to the ICID's WHIS-2023 list.

The ICID's WHIS list now covers 159 projects around the world.

According to the ICID's website, nominations are invited from ICID National Committees for the selection of World Heritage Irrigation Structures that include both old operational irrigation structures as well as those having historical value.

Xinhua contributed to this story.