Key Points for Rural Water Conservancy and Hydropower Work in 2024
The overall approach for rural water conservancy and hydropower work in 2024 is: adhere to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as guidance, thoroughly study and implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Second Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee, actively practice General Secretary Xi Jinping's water management strategy of "water conservation first, spatial balance, systematic governance, and dual efforts," fully implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important statements on water governance, conscientiously carry out the arrangements and deployments of the Central Economic Work Conference, Central Rural Work Conference, and National Water Conservancy Work Conference, and learn from and apply the "Ten Million Project." "Experience, practical work, and persistent effort should focus efforts on accomplishing a batch of tangible and tangible tasks for the people. Deeply recognize that ensuring rural drinking water safety is an important milestone in consolidating poverty alleviation achievements and promoting comprehensive rural revitalization, adhere to urban-rural coordination, and accelerate the high-quality development of rural water supply; Strengthen planning guidance, fully implement farmland irrigation development plans, deeply carry out comprehensive reform of agricultural water prices, vigorously promote the modernization and transformation of irrigation districts, and consolidate the foundation for food security and water conservancy; Implement decisions and deployments related to ecological civilization construction, coordinate development and security, accelerate the transformation and upgrading of small hydropower to green development, and consolidate the foundation for high-quality rural water conservancy and hydropower development.
1. Accelerate the high-quality development of rural water supply
1. Accelerate the preparation and improvement of high-quality rural water supply development plans. Each province should aim to increase the coverage rate of rural tap water and the proportion of large-scale water supply projects covering the rural population, focus on perfecting the "3+1" standardized construction and management model (integrated urban-rural water supply, large-scale centralized water supply, standardized small-scale water supply projects, unified county management and professional management), strengthen target and indicator management, expedite the preparation and improvement of the provincial high-quality rural water supply development plan, and strive to complete the provincial plan by the end of June. The basin management organization schedules work progress according to division of labor and strengthens quality control. Accelerate the preparation of the implementation plan for the 2024–2026 Central Water Conservancy Development Fund project supporting high-quality rural water supply development.
2. Fully improve the scale of rural water supply. Each province should carefully plan and advance rural water supply projects in conjunction with provincial, municipal, and county water network construction. Relying on large water sources, building large water plants, and connecting to the main pipeline network, priority is given to promoting integrated urban and rural water supply. For areas where urban water supply networks cannot be extended, vigorously promote the large-scale construction of centralized water supply according to the principle of "build large, consolidate, reduce size," compress the scale of dispersed water users, and encourage the connection and connection of centralized water supply projects and the joint regulation and supply of centralized water supply projects. By the end of 2024, strive to achieve a nationwide rural tap water coverage rate of 92%, and achieve a 63% coverage rate of rural population through large-scale water supply projects.
3. Promote standardized construction and renovation of small-scale water supply projects. For areas that cannot be included in the scope of integrated urban and rural water supply and large-scale water supply, standardize construction and renovation of small-scale water supply projects, promote standardized construction and renovation of small-scale water supply projects according to local conditions, standardize management and service mechanisms, implement the construction of small reservoirs, ponds, reservoirs, reservoirs, and machine wells, accelerate the formation of a water supply pattern with reservoirs and ponds as the main water source and multi-source joint supply from streams and wells, and continuously reduce the number of rural people relying on water cellars and water cabinets for water supply. For those not meeting the conditions for reduction, appropriate purification, disinfection, and filtration equipment must be provided to ensure compliant water supply, ensuring no household or individual is left unattended.
4. Strengthen county-level unified management and professional management. Issue a notice to strengthen county-level unified management of rural water supply, and accelerate the unified management, operation, and service of rural water supply at the county level. Establish county-level specialized management platforms, relying on specialized companies or institutions for urban water supply and water supply to promote enterprise-style operations and professional management. Strive to basically achieve county-level unified management of rural water supply by 2025. Improve the water pricing mechanism, strengthen water fee collection, and promote standardized management. By the end of 2024, 70% of rural water supply projects with thousands of tons per thousand tons per person will achieve standardized management.
5. Carry out county-level rural drinking water safety standardization construction. Accelerate the formulation of relevant standards, issue policy documents, clarify the standards and detailed rules for system layout, intensive and safe facilities, standardized and professional management, and high-quality, efficient services, strictly enforce acceptance procedures and regulatory requirements, publish the list of county domain names that pass annual inspection, increase performance evaluation and financial support, publicize good experiences and practices, and play a demonstrative and leading role.
6. Deeply implement the special action to improve rural water supply water quality. Strengthen water source protection, cooperate with relevant departments to accelerate the "delineation, establishment, and governance" of water sources for township-level rural water supply projects. By the end of 2024, all rural centralized water supply projects will be equipped with purification and disinfection facilities as required. Strengthen self-inspection of water quality in large-scale rural water supply projects; Relying on regional water quality testing centers and other institutions, strengthen water quality inspections for small rural water supply projects; Jointly with relevant departments, conduct water quality sampling inspections and strengthen supervision.
7. Consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation in rural water supply. Conduct comprehensive inspections and dynamically monitor the operation of rural water supply projects and the drinking water status of rural populations. Leverage the Ministry of Water Resources' 12314 supervision and reporting service platform and local supervision and reporting hotlines at all levels, improve rapid detection and response mechanisms for rural water supply issues, and maintain dynamic zero issues. Strengthen the management of the rural water supply maintenance fund ledger, and consolidate and maintain the achievements of existing rural water supply projects. Effectively combat floods, droughts, and low-temperature rain, snow, and ice disasters, respond to and prevent extreme weather to ensure rural water supply, improve emergency plans, prepare material reserves, form emergency water supply teams, strengthen emergency drills, explore the establishment of a dual-use emergency water supply guarantee system, and firmly safeguard the bottom line of rural drinking water safety.
2. Deeply promote the modernization and transformation of irrigation districts
8. Carry out top-level design for farmland irrigation development. Issue the "National Farmland Irrigation Development Plan," establish a project database, and reserve a batch of relatively mature large and medium-sized irrigation district construction and renovation projects. Promote the issuance of provincial-level farmland irrigation development plans, fully coordinate with regional development strategies, water network construction, and high-standard farmland construction plans, further refine and implement development goals, regional layout, and construction tasks, and steadily advance preliminary project work. Organize the preparation of implementation plans for new construction and modernization of medium-sized irrigation districts. Adhere to the principle of building mechanisms first, then projects, and orderly advance the implementation of planned projects. Improve and promptly update a single map for large and medium-sized irrigation districts, and promote the mapping of irrigated land irrigation area in irrigation districts under 10,000 mu.
9. Accelerate the modernization of irrigation districts. Steadily advance the continuous construction and modernization of more than 80 large irrigation districts, strengthen progress scheduling and supervision guidance, and ensure that the central investment completion rate reaches over 90% by the end of 2024. In accordance with relevant management requirements for national debts, we have solidly supervised over 1,000 irrigation district projects supported by additional government bond issuance funds, and coordinated the connection and supporting measures with related projects. Strengthen departmental collaboration, coordinate the backbone projects and field engineering construction of large and medium-sized irrigation districts, and prioritize converting cultivated land with irrigation conditions into high-standard farmland.
10. Strengthen agricultural water-saving water supply management. Strengthen the management of water intake permits for large and medium-sized irrigation districts, implement total water usage control and quota management. Comprehensively adopt methods such as remote monitoring, on-site water measurement by facilities and equipment, and "electricity to convert water" to promote water metering and allocation to reasonable water supply and usage handover sections. During the non-irrigation water supply season, carry out inspection, maintenance, maintenance, and dredging of irrigation and drainage facilities. Strengthen water-based land management, scientifically formulate water supply and use plans around the rational water needs for grain and key agricultural product production, optimize irrigation water scheduling and allocation through measures such as storage and introduction and adjustment, combined with information management systems, reinforce agricultural water-saving irrigation management, resolutely curb "flood flooding," and improve the security of irrigation water supply.
11. Continue to advance standardized management of irrigation districts and irrigation and drainage pump stations. Further improve the provincial-level normalized evaluation mechanism for large and medium-sized irrigation districts and irrigation and drainage pump stations, and accelerate standardized management of irrigation districts and pump stations. Evaluate and publish a batch of large and medium-sized irrigation districts and irrigation pump stations with ministerial-level standardized management lists, intensify summaries and publicity, and play a demonstrative and leading role. Deepen reform of the irrigation district management system, implement the "two fees," reasonably allocate personnel, strengthen technical skills training, and improve management and maintenance levels.
12. Deepen comprehensive reform of agricultural water pricing and promote the construction of modern irrigation districts. Deepen the 21 pilot projects for deepening comprehensive reform of agricultural water pricing and advancing the construction of modern irrigation districts, fully establish a water pricing mechanism of "permissible cost + reasonable benefit," complete and implement water price adjustments. Agricultural water rights should be broken down into local conditions and distributed to rural collective economic organizations, farmers' water cooperatives, farmers, and other water users, actively carrying out water rights trading. Based on actual conditions, formulate different policy supply systems to form management and maintenance models with joint participation from the government, enterprises, and water users, each with its own characteristics. Timely distill effective practices from the *** batch of pilots, summarize experiences, use key points to drive broader developments, and launch the second national batch of pilots at an appropriate time.
3. Continuously promote green development of small hydropower
13. Complete the special action to improve the safety of small hydropower station dams. Complete safety assessments for small hydropower stations with reservoir capacity below 100,000 cubic meters. For dams identified (assessed) as Category II or III, immediate rectification is required. Where engineering measures are needed, emergency prevention measures must be strictly enforced, dam risk removal and reinforcement accelerated, and long-term mechanisms established. Strictly and earnestly carry out the investigation and rectification of safety risks and hidden dangers, conscientiously carry out supervision and inspection of safety production and flood season, organize technical training on risk and hazard investigation, strengthen legal education on safety production, and urge the "three responsible persons" for safety production to fulfill their duties. Continue to advance safety production standardization work, adding 500 new safety production standardization power stations throughout the year.
14. Actively and steadily advance classified rectification of small hydropower plants. Provincial-level water administrative departments along the Yellow River should work with relevant departments to strengthen guidance on municipal and county rectification work, strictly implement the "one station, one policy" rectification measures, ensure problem rectification, organize online and offline supervision and inspection, include the cleanup and rectification of small hydropower in the Yellow River Basin in assessments such as the river and lake chief system, strictly manage acceptance and cancellation, and complete rectification tasks on schedule. Other regions that have not yet completed classified rectification should accelerate implementation according to established goals, strictly control the quality of rectification measures and acceptance and cancellation work, and improve long-term mechanisms. Areas such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt that have completed rectification should strengthen supervision and inspection, and continuously consolidate the results of the cleanup and rectification.
15. Urge small hydropower stations to implement ecological flow at each station. Local water administrative departments at all levels should urge power stations to improve ecological flow discharge monitoring facilities and standardize monitoring and monitoring behaviors. Provincial water administrative departments should strengthen the construction of supervision platforms and organize online random self-inspection inspections at irregular intervals. Basin management agencies should organize online random inspections of ecological flow at small hydropower stations within the basin. Ecological flow supervision of small hydropower stations should be included in the assessment of *** strict water resource management systems, and evaluation should be strengthened. Strengthen the exchange of typical experiences, establish and improve mechanisms for punishment and incentive mechanisms for ecological traffic leakage, and promote the implementation of ecological traffic at each station.
16. Strictly establish green small hydropower demonstration stations. Strengthen training for demonstration creation, guide power stations in benchmarking evaluation standards and requirements, and carry out green transformation and upgrades. Strictly review and control the establishment, strengthen the verification of issues pointed out by central environmental protection inspections and ecological warning videos, with a focus on the actual effectiveness of ecological flow discharge and safety production standardization construction. Provincial preliminary inspections should carry out full-coverage on-site inspections and increase the intensity of ministry-level spot checks. Strengthen daily supervision of demonstration power stations, strictly re-examine renewals upon expiration, and implement a dynamic management mechanism of "entry and exit." More than 80 new green small hydropower demonstration stations will be added throughout the year, and incentive policies will be actively coordinated.
17. Guide green transformation and modernization of small hydropower. Guide relevant localities to formulate and improve green transformation and modernization project plans for small hydropower, actively seek financial support, make full use of preferential credit policies, encourage the use of hydropower group companies, industry associations, and third-party institutions to promote intelligent transformation, intensive operation, and property management of small hydropower, encourage qualified regions to carry out pilot projects, and establish regional centralized control centers.
4. Solidly carry out rural water conservancy and hydropower informatization construction
18. Strengthen the construction of intelligent application systems for rural water conservancy and hydropower. Further update and improve basic information on large and medium-sized irrigation districts, rural water supply, and small hydropower stations, expand the functions of related business modules, consolidate the data foundation, optimize algorithm models, enhance analytical application functions, and accelerate the construction of an intelligent management application system. Encourage localities and units to interconnect existing systems with the Ministry of Water Resources' rural water resources and hydropower management information system, open data interfaces, and promote information sharing and collaboration across different levels and related businesses.
19. Promote the construction of digital twin rural water supply projects. Continue to promote information linkage and matching between water sources and large-scale water supply projects, and improve the rural water supply risk map. Continue to promote the establishment of smart water supply information platforms at the county level, promote online monitoring of key parameters such as water volume, quality, pressure, and water intake and usage metering for large-scale water supply projects, as well as key equipment and facilities like pumps and chemical dosing. In regions with suitable conditions, pilot comprehensive sensing, real-time transmission, data analysis, and smart application system construction to build digital twin water supply systems.
20. Deepen pilot projects for digital twin irrigation districts. Following the overall requirements of "demand-driven, application-first, digital empowerment, and capability enhancement," accelerate the pilot construction of 49 digital twin irrigation districts, fully utilize expert databases and other technical resources, strengthen tracking and guidance for digital twin irrigation districts, and enhance exchange and training. A batch of typical digital twin irrigation districts will be created, condensing into replicable and promotable construction models and practical technologies, thereby enhancing the level of smart irrigation decision support. The construction and renovation of large and medium-sized irrigation districts should simultaneously carry out digital construction and smart applications.
21. Strengthen informatization management of small hydropower plants. Improve the construction of the small hydropower information supervision platform, promote data sharing and interconnectivity, and strengthen online industry regulatory applications such as supervision and inspection, technical review, and more. Guide small hydropower stations with good basic conditions to explore digital twin pilots, build basic IoT platforms, and enable real-time data linking, transmission, storage, and analysis of generator unit monitoring, rainfall and water conditions, video surveillance, inspection systems, etc., and improve application functions such as flood control dispatch, power optimization scheduling, safety emergency management, and ecological protection.
5. Strengthen work style and capacity building
22. Strengthen political development. Consolidate and expand the achievements of the thematic education on studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, firmly grasp the worldview and methodology contained within, learn and apply the experience of the "Ten Million Project," deeply understand the decisive significance of the "Two Establishments," strengthen the "Four Consciousnesses," firmly uphold the "Four Confidences," achieve the "Two Upholds," resolutely implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and promote high-quality rural water conservancy and hydropower development based on the overall development of the Party and the country. Solving urgent and difficult problems faced by rural residents.
23. Continuously improve work style. Persistently implement the spirit of the Central Eight-Point Regulation, unswervingly correct the "Four Forms of Decadence" and foster new trends, and resolutely rectify prominent issues of formalism and bureaucratism. Conduct in-depth investigation and research, smooth channels for supervision and reporting, implement tailored measures and classified measures according to local conditions, and pragmatically solve real problems faced by the public. Deeply learn from the lessons raised through various channels, draw inferences from one case to another, conduct thorough investigations and rectifications, establish long-term mechanisms, and prevent similar problems from recurring. Strictly implement the lifelong responsibility system for construction quality, strengthen project quality management, enhance supervision of construction progress, safety, and funds, and ensure the completion of projects that satisfy the people, are of high quality, and are clean and honest.
24. Deepen watershed governance and management. Basin management agencies should take the overall situation of the basin, take proactive measures, strengthen guidance for rural water conservancy and hydropower work in provinces within the basin, and effectively fulfill daily regulatory responsibilities related to project planning, investment planning, project construction, and operation.
25. Practice "Two-Handed Efforts." Better leverage the leverage role of government investment at all levels, improve a sound water pricing mechanism, and actively explore market-oriented operation models integrating construction and management. Innovate diversified investment and financing models, make full use of various financial tools, make full use of financial support and preferential water conservancy policies, and improve project financing capacity; Support and cultivate a group of specialized market entities in the water conservancy sector to participate in the construction and operation maintenance of rural water conservancy and hydropower projects.
26. Consolidate the foundational work. Strengthen team building, optimize personnel allocation, enhance training and training, and improve grassroots rural water conservancy and hydropower management capabilities. Strengthen the review and updating of basic data on rural water supply, irrigation districts, and small hydropower. Continue to improve the analysis and application of management information in the rural water conservancy and hydropower industry, as well as the construction and operation of irrigation pilot station networks. Relying on a single map for rural water supply and irrigation districts, strengthen the coupling application of hydrological and meteorological forecast information to enhance the "four pre-forecasts" capabilities.
27. Strengthen scientific and technological support.
Focusing on key and difficult aspects of rural water conservancy and hydropower work, strengthen deep integration of industry, academia, research, and application, and carry out R&D and promotion of key technologies. Strengthen the calculation and analysis of effective farmland irrigation water utilization coefficients and the contribution of irrigation to grain production; promote technologies such as water-saving irrigation, rural water supply water quality treatment, and ecological flow supervision of small hydropower; accelerate the development and compilation of technical standards for standardization improvement of small-scale water supply projects, digital twin irrigation districts, and ecological flow rates of small hydropower stations; and enhance the technological support capacity of rural water conservancy and hydropower.
Source: Rural Water Resources and Hydropower Department, Ministry of Water Resources
Source: China Water Conservancy Magazine