On March 1, 2023, the construction of the second-stage project of the first phase of the North Main Canal of Xiangjiaba Irrigation District in Sichuan officially started. It is understood that the project is one of the 60 major water conservancy projects that will be accelerated in 2023, and it is also the first major water conservancy project to start construction in Sichuan Province in 2023.

Xiangjiaba Irrigation District North Main Canal Phase I Two-step Project

The project is implemented in two steps. The first-phase and second-step projects started this time involve 4 cities and 7 counties (districts) including Zigong, Neijiang, Luzhou, and Yibin in the Southern Sichuan Economic Zone. The annual water diversion is 473 million cubic meters, the designed irrigation area is 1.473 million mu, and the water supply population is 1.14 million. The main canals, sub-main canals, branch canals, and water supply pipelines total 321 kilometers, with a total construction period of 48 months and a total investment of 8.13 billion yuan.

It is reported that the first phase project of the North Main Canal of Xiangjiaba Irrigation District is one of the 172 major water conservancy projects determined by the State Council. It is an important part of the backbone water network in Sichuan. Its main tasks are agricultural irrigation, urban and rural life, and industrial water supply. It is of great significance to ensure the safety of urban and rural water supply in the economic zone and help build a higher level Tianfu granary in the new era.

At the same time that the construction of the first phase and second phase of the North Main Canal of Xiangjiaba Irrigation District started, the first phase of the North Main Canal of the irrigation area is also being fully advanced. The project design irrigation area is 512,700 mu. Since the start of the main project in August 2019, it has overcome many construction difficulties such as long water diversion lines and high tunnel-to-tunnel ratio. At present, a total investment of 5.235 billion yuan has been completed, and 94 kilometers of tunnels have been excavated.

According to the relevant person in charge of Xiangjiaba Irrigation District Construction and Development Co., Ltd. in Sichuan Province, in 2023, the annual planned investment of the first-phase one-step project will be 2 billion yuan, and the investment completion rate will reach 90%. A solid foundation has been laid for water conditions. After the completion of the entire Xiangjiaba Irrigation District Project, it will supplement and solve the water problem of more than 4 million rural population in Yibin, Zigong, Neijiang and other irrigation districts, and guarantee water for irrigation of 5.3 million mu of farmland. By then, it will fundamentally solve the problem of drought and water shortage in southern Sichuan.

It is learned from the Sichuan Provincial Department of Water Resources that in 2023, Sichuan Province will set off a new upsurge in the development of water conservancy, large-scale water conservancy, and large-scale water conservancy. Among them, the focus is on promoting the construction of one main and one backbone water network, focusing on the water resource allocation and bundling projects in the Dajimin and Anning River basins, and launching the Changzheng Canal project to build a twin-city economic circle high in the Chengdu-Chongqing area by diverting the Dajimin and Changzheng Canals Quality development Tianfu water network main artery, Shinkansen. At the same time, 6 major water conservancy projects, including Dajimin, Sanba Reservoir, and Mishi Reservoir, will be included in China's key promotion in 2023, and 49 large and medium-sized water conservancy projects under construction, including the first phase of Tingzikou Irrigation Area and Jiangjiakou Reservoir, will be accelerated. Accelerate the formation of a modern water network system to provide strong support for building a higher-level Tianfu granary in the new era and building a socialist modern Sichuan in an all-round way. Editor/He Yuting