The Tarim River in southern Xinjiang, with a total basin area of 1.02 million square kilometers and a total length of 2,486 kilometers, is one of China's largest inland rivers and a convergence point of four great civilizations.
Despite its vast territory and long course, even ranking first among China's inland rivers, it experienced a thirty-year period of drying up!
As the mother river of southern Xinjiang, nurturing tens of millions of people, the Tarim River remained unharmed during its thirty-year dry period. How was it "resurrected"?
Originating from the southern part of Xinjiang, the Tarim River originates from the Tianshan Mountains and the Pamir Plateau surrounding the Tarim Basin.
Although the river continuously receives water from various sources, its water volume is severely limited due to the region's unique climatic conditions.
The region belongs to a typical continental climate, characterized by scarce precipitation, strong evaporation, distinct seasonal climates, large temperature differences, dramatic daily temperature changes, as well as frequent wind and dust storms. These climatic conditions restrict the stable supply of water to the Tarim River.
The ancient Tarim River was once renowned for its numerous tributaries, but now only three tributaries converge into it.
In addition to the influence of climate change, human factors also play an important role.
According to historical records, one important tributary of the Tarim River, the Niya River, was a direct passage between the ancient Western Regions Protectorate and the ancient kingdom of Khotan. The drying up of the Niya River is closely related to the decline of the ancient kingdom of Khotan, adding to the mystery of the Tarim River.
In the 1950s, one of the important tributaries of the Tarim River, the Kashgar River, also dried up, leading to the gradual drying up of the Tarim River.
By the 1970s, the trend of drying up of the Tarim River became increasingly apparent, and the lower reaches of the river had completely dried up, posing a huge challenge to the survival of the surrounding areas.
In order to address the drying up of the Tarim River, Xinjiang started emergency water diversion projects for the lower reaches of the Tarim River in 2000, but this method was not effective due to climatic and geographical constraints.
Therefore, in 2001, Xinjiang initiated a rescue operation for the Tarim River, investing huge amounts of money and manpower to manage the river.
As of 2019, 20 replenishment operations had been carried out, and the poplar forests on both sides of the river began to recover, while the area of the downstream Taitema Lake gradually recovered.
By 2022, emergency machinery was deployed to repair and reinforce 113 barriers along the Tarim River.
On March 22, 2024, China officially launched the first phase of the twenty-fifth ecological water diversion project, further strengthening the hydraulic connection between the river and its tributaries, and planning to divert 510 million cubic meters of water to replenish the poplar forests.
Today, the Tarim River is no longer the dry land it once was, but a vibrant place full of life.
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