Jinggu River Reservoir

Jinggu River Reservoir

Jinggu River Reservoir

Water flows through history, traversing the sediment of time, carrying with it its changes and transitions. Existing in a flowing form, it is the cradle of life’s origins, yet so simple. Yes, it is simple—just the most ordinary of microscopic particles, omnipresent, light and transparent, an essential condition for human survival. The flow of water is tied to the lifeblood and history of entire nations. Along the banks of the Yellow River, the shores of the Nile, and the edges of the Indus, each has nurtured an ancient and vibrant people. For Jinggu County, water is one of its advantageous resources. Whether it’s the surging rivers, the cascading waterfalls, or the murmuring streams, all nourish abundant biological resources and sustain the various ethnic groups living here.

“Each place has the water and soil to nurture its people.” The Wei Yuan River, which runs through Jinggu County, twists and turns like a long dragon, nourishing the land along with the pulse of historical flow. Long dikes, green willows, and picturesque scenery have always been people’s most beautiful imaginings of rivers—but few realize that behind these beautiful landscapes lie hidden dangers.

Jinggu County is rich in hydroelectric resources. There are 94 rivers of varying sizes within its borders, with a total water resource volume of 6.72 billion cubic meters. This equates to 23,500 cubic meters per capita, and the county’s theoretical hydropower potential reaches 760,000 kilowatts. Despite such abundant water resources, they were not better developed or utilized historically. On the contrary, they once became a source of headaches and despair: Jinggu County features high mountains and low water levels, suffering from “droughts twice every three years and uninterrupted floods in between,” with flood disasters occurring annually. Successive dynasties’ governments and local chieftains did not focus on water conservancy construction. People relied solely on digging channels to divert water from small rivers and mountain streams for gravity-fed irrigation. Flood control and drought resistance capabilities were weak, grain yields per unit area were low and unstable, and people’s lives were difficult. Due to Jinggu’s complex terrain, winding river channels, rapid currents, and concentrated rainfall in July and August, heavy rains often led to severe flooding along the riverbanks. During the Republican era, deforestation and land reclamation were particularly prominent in Jinggu, and annual hillside burning severely damaged forest vegetation, leading to serious soil erosion in the mountainous areas. Statistics show that the county’s total soil erosion area reached 140,230 hectares.

“It’s hard to keep the water level even in every bowl.” Although Jinggu is rich in water resources, it is inevitable that some villages still suffer from low water levels or insufficient sources, making drinking water for humans and livestock relatively difficult. In some villages, people have to carry water from mountain streams two or three li away; in others, well water yields are low, forcing residents to queue up day and night to draw water. Water scarcity becomes even more severe in the dry season, making water as precious as oil. After 1950, the population increased year by year, and periods of deforestation and unregulated logging further damaged the ecological environment, causing some mountain springs to dry up and making drinking water for humans and livestock even scarcer. According to a 1983 survey, there were 137 natural villages, 4,232 households, 27,700 people, and 11,400 large livestock facing particularly severe drinking water shortages in the county... Through these figures and images, we can imagine how much hardship this once picturesque Jinggu, with the Wei Yuan River running through it, must have endured.