Continuous drought has forced villagers in the Sanjia Village of the Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, to buy drinking water from a water source 10 kilometers away, according to China Meteorological News. (Image Source: Xinhua News Agency)
As of now, the severe drought has caused drinking water difficulties for 3.19 million people and 1.58 million large livestock in Yunnan Province. Some urban areas are experiencing water supply shortages, and some enterprises and mines have either shut down or are operating at half capacity. The direct economic losses caused by the drought in the province have reached approximately 10 billion yuan. With the development of the drought and the consumption of existing water reserves, the situation for drought resistance and water supply security may become more severe before the rainy season arrives.
This information was obtained during the teleconference on forest fire prevention and drought relief work held in Kunming on the 27th. Currently, 112 meteorological stations across the province are experiencing varying degrees of meteorological drought, with 12 stations classified as extremely dry and 57 stations as severely dry. Except for the remote areas in northwest, northeast, and southeast Yunnan, meteorological drought has occurred throughout the province, with the drought situation worsening rapidly.
Yunnan's Vice Governor Kong Chuzhu stated during the meeting that due to three consecutive years of drought and insufficient rainfall, currently 273 medium and small rivers in the province have dried up, along with 413 small reservoirs. The total water storage in reservoirs and ponds is only 4.3 billion cubic meters.
The National Disaster Reduction Commission and the Ministry of Civil Affairs promptly initiated a national level IV disaster emergency response. Relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture have dispatched multiple working groups to Yunnan to inspect and guide drought relief efforts. Since last autumn, the central government has allocated 4.24 billion yuan to support Yunnan's drought relief efforts. Recently, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration arranged 1.5 billion yuan in drought relief funds for the drought-resistant seedling cultivation of tobacco leaves in Yunnan.