The Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China and the National Development and Reform Commission recently announced the list of Water Efficiency Leading Areas in the second batch. A total of 15 irrigation areas in China won this honor, including Gaoyou irrigation area in Yangzhou City and Longpao dike and polder irrigation area in Liuhe District, Nanjing City.

Gaoyou irrigation area is located in Lixiahe area in the middle of Yangzhou City, with a total area of 649 km2 and an irrigated area of 520,000 mu. It is a large-scale gravity irrigation area in the source section of the East Route of South-to-North Water Diversion Project. In recent years, Gaoyou irrigation area has completed a total investment of RMB 500 million around the development goal of “creating a modernized water-saving ecological irrigation area”, completed a number of irrigation and drainage renovation projects, initially built a smart irrigation area system, and created a service brand of “water usage knowledge for farmers”, which laid the engineering and institutional foundation for promoting water-saving efforts in the irrigation area.

Longpao dike and polder irrigation area is located in Longpao Subdistrict, Liuhe District, Nanjing City, with a total area of 65.2 km2 and an irrigated area of 41,900 mu, which is a typical dike and polder irrigation area. Taking irrigation and drainage engineering construction as the carrier, efforts have been made to enhance water-saving projects, improve metering facilities and information support capacity. The irrigation area has explored and established a modernized water-saving ecological irrigation area management mode featuring “investment, adjustment, reform, management and publicity”, and found a new way for agricultural water conservation and efficiency improvement, good project operation and sustainable development of irrigation areas.