A Drop of Sweetness

Between the rugged cliffs where the Yarkant River carves through the Taklimakan Desert, a 164.8-meter-tall colossus stands guard–the huge dam of Altash Water Conservancy Project, the largest water conservancy project in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The project features a reservoir with the capacity of more than 2 billion cubic meters. Since it was put into operation in November 2019, the project has completely resolved the longstanding issues of flooding, spring drought, summer inundation, autumn water shortage and winter water depletion in the Yarkant River basin.

Talking about the days before the water conservancy project was completed, Maerjiangguli Tuersun, a local villager born and raised in the Altash Village, some seven kilometers from the project, still feels the fear from that time.

“Before the construction of the project, the village was plagued by natural disasters during the flooding seasons. The floods destroyed crops like wheat and corn, and also swept away our cattle and sheep,” Maerjiangguli told Beijing Review.

Fortunately, since the project was completed, the villagers no longer fear floods, Maerjiangguli said. Moreover, the construction and maintenance of the project created job opportunities for villagers and those from surrounding areas, increasing their income and improving their quality of life.

Xinjiang is the region with the largest area of desertification and land degradation in China. With low rainfall and high evaporation rates, areas with water become oases, while those without water turn into deserts.

Over the years, water resource management reforms have been tailored to Xinjiang’s specific conditions, leading to the planning and implementation of several major projects like the Altash Water Conservancy Project. These initiatives continuously provide essential water support and security for the high-quality development of Xinjiang’s economy and society.

The water challenge

Xinjiang ranks 12th in the country for total water resources and 4th for per capita water availability. Although the annual variation in river flow is relatively small, there are notable seasonal changes, with about 70 percent of the annual runoff occurring between June and August. The core issue of water scarcity lies in the extremely uneven spatial and temporal distribution of water resources.

“When the floods occurred in summer, villagers had to stay indoors for days and wait for them to go away. Even worse, they wash away the crops in the fields, resulting in the loss of an entire year’s harvest.” Maerjiangguli remembered.

The Altash Water Conservancy Project has protected downstream areas from floods. Official statistics show that previously the area was usually flooded once every 2.5 years, but now, thanks to the project, that frequency of flooding has been lowered to once every 50 years. This upgrade protects hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland and ensures the safety of many residents. Additionally, the reduction in annual flood management costs has also benefited the community.

In addition to their income from traditional farming–once the primary livelihood for local villagers–many residents have considerably boosted their earnings by working on the water conservancy project.

A notable example is Maerjiangguli’s husband, who worked as a construction laborer transporting gravel for the project. His involvement transformed their family’s finances, with their income growing over 40 folds compared with farming alone. After the project’s completion, he invested in larger vehicles, including trucks, and leveraged his experience to secure well-paying jobs in transporting building materials for other infrastructure sites.

Moreover, since it began full-scale electricity generation in 2021, the project has produced more than 2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. This achievement saves about 883,100 tons of standard coal annually and reduces dust emissions by 175,300 tons, providing stable green energy to four prefectures in southern Xinjiang and greatly alleviating power shortages.

Moreover, the project has also ensured a stable supply of irrigation water for the extensive agricultural areas downstream. The average wheat yield has increased from just over three tons per hectare in the past to about seven tons per hectare today.

In 2023, Xinjiang ranked first in the country for increases in both total grain production and the area sown; by 2024, it led the nation in yield per unit area, with total production rising to 13th place nationwide. The continuous increase in production is an outcome of Xinjiang’s robust water management infrastructure and the efficient allocation and scientific use of water resources.

Glacier’s gift

Lying at the edge of the Taklimakan Desert, Jiashi County of Kashgar Prefecture, with an arid climate, has annual evaporation 15 times higher than precipitation. For decades, villagers relied on stagnant, murky reservoirs of muddy, brackish water filled with sand and harmful levels of sulfates and fluorides. Even boiling couldn’t remove the water’s bitter, metallic taste.

A new system changed everything. May 11, 2020 is a date etched into the hearts of Jiashi’s 460,000 residents–the day glacier meltwater from the Muztagh Ata Mountains finally reached their taps. After traveling 112 km through pipelines, the first clear streams flowed into homes, marking the completion of the Jiashi County Urban-Rural Drinking Water Safety Project. With an investment of some 1.7 billion yuan ($237 million), this cross-regional engineering feat ended generations of hardship, replacing bitter, unsafe water with clean, sweet-tasting water.

But securing water was only the beginning. In 2023, Jiashi invested an additional 163 million yuan ($22.7 million) to upgrade aging pipes, connecting tens of thousands of households to a reinforced network.

“Now, our tap water tastes sweeter than bottled mineral water,” Maihemuti Aierxi, a villager from Kaidanmujiayi Village in Jiashi, said. “It’s transformed our health and daily lives.”

Yet locals haven’t forgotten their past woes. They repurpose every drop–using recycled water to nourish backyard orchards. “The moment we turn on the tap, we taste the glaciers,” said Maihemuti. “But we’ll never forget how precious this gift is–it demands gratitude, not waste.”