Comment on "$608b injection for water projects" (China Daily, Jan 31)

The 2011 No 1 Document intensively addressed water conservation. It is a marvelous business for the nation. And it is very timely because our country always seems to suffer from extreme drought in spring and floods in the summer and autumn.

According to the No 1 document, the country will invest 4 trillion yuan in water projects during the next 10 years to improve water conservation. It is a huge project that will benefit all the people, and is especially important to agriculture and farmers.

Good quality water conservancy facilities play a major role in society, the Dujiangyan Dam irrigation project built two thousand years ago is a good example. But managing and maintaining the water projects after they are completed are also important, the nation has had plenty of lessons on that. In the past the country paid more attention to building and less to maintenance. This neglect has led to a waste of the national resources. A change in attitude is equally important to conserve water.

Ge Xiong, via e-mail