Anhui province in east China will spend 17.6 billion yuan (around US$2.2 billion) on 10 major projects targeting flood control and soil erosion over the next three years.
Officials with Anhui Provincial Bureau of Water Resources said the 10 projects focus on reinforcing dykes and embankments on Anhui's sections of Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers, and dredging.
The 6,300-km Yangtze is the world's third longest river, while the 845-km Huaihe runs through the populous, grain-producing areas of Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces.
The two rivers are subject to flooding during the June and September rainy seasons.
Officials said some of the resources would be used to harness tributaries of the two major rivers, build pump stations along the Yangtze to drain flooded fields, and improve the flood control capacity of some cities.
The consolidation of risky reservoirs and the building of new reservoirs are also included in the 10 projects, said the officials.
(People's Daily June 15, 2002)
