On June 29, the Chaiwopu Management Committee said that 53.88 hectares of farmland in the area is fallow, and 24 wells for agriculture were covered, so that 33 million cubic meters of groundwater and surface water used for irrigation will flow directly to Chaiwopu Lake.
Based on 3 cubic meters as water consumption for one person every month in Urumqi, the 33 million cubic meters of water saved through the plan can support the water consumption of 92,000 people in a year.
According to Shi Jianli, director of the Office of Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery and Animal Husbandry of Chaiwopu Management Committee, "Water restoration of Chaiwopu Lake can complement the groundwater formation of the lands around Chaiwopu Lake, and the fallow lands can at least become wetlands.'
In the early 1990s, Chaiwopu Lake covered an area of 30 square kilometers. It was an important water source in Urumqi, as it had an average runoff of surface water amounting to 103.36 million cubic meters, which accounted for 40 percent of the surface water in Urumqi.
In recent years, with increasing water consumption for local agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry, Chaiwopu Lake is shrinking. The lakeshore has receded about 20 miles, and the lake area has been reduced by over 10 square kilometers. The original 20 hectares of the lake west of Chaiwopu Lake has dried up; surrounding wetlands have been reduced by 333.3 square kilometers; desertification and salinization of grasslands are becoming severe, and a "funnel' region covering over 80 square kilometers has formed.
Mamat Madil, 63, who was born near Chaiwopu Lake, said, "Fallow means that we will never do farming on these lands in order to restore the lake. All of us support this decision.' He said that he grew up near Chaiwopu Lake, and he felt heartbroken about the shrinking lake.
The policy of restoring the lake was jointly formulated and implemented by the municipal, district and Chaiwopu management committees. Farmers and herdsmen can get 480 yuan ($77.23) a year in subsidies for each mu of fallow land. Since October last year, the Chaiwobu Management Committee and farmers and herdsmen have begun signing fallow agreements.
"The annual rent for 0.07 hectare of land is 300-400 yuan. If we ourselves cultivate the land, we need to invest labor and materials, and the net income is just about 500 yuan. So, taking subsidies for fallow land is a good bargain,' said farmer Ma Hailong, who added that most villagers have turned to aquaculture, and others got jobs in companies through the government.
In addition, in order to restore Chaiwopu Lake, two waterworks in the region have implemented the policy of halving their production in summer and limiting the daily production to 40,000 cubic meters in winter. The Chaiwopu Management Committee also is taking other measures to restore the lake, such as coordinating water transfers.