Mega project brings water from south to Beijing

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-12-28

The water arrives at Tuancheng Lake's open channel in Beijing, Dec. 27
(Photo/Xinhua)

The water from a south China river flowed into Beijing on Saturday after a journey of over 1,200 kilometers along the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.

It took 15 days for the water to arrive in Beijing from its source — the Hanjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze, China's largest waterway.

Saturday's delivery marks the completion of the middle route's first stage, construction of which began exactly 12 years ago.

The project will have significant economic, social and environmental impacts, said E Jingping, chief of the State Council's South-to-North Water Diversion Project Commission Office.

Next year, about 800 million cubic meters of water will be sent to Beijing from the south.

Beijing, on average, consumes 3.6 billion cubic meters of water annually and the project will eventually deliver 1 billion cubic meters of water to Beijing. The water resource per capita in Beijing is one eightieth of the world average.

The project will alleviate the pressure Beijing faces to meet demand, said Sun Guosheng, director of the project's Beijing office, but the project would not completely solve Beijing's water issues. Additional measures must be taken.

Dean of Beijing Normal University's College of Water Sciences, Xu Xinyi, said Beijing and other places along the project's route must promote water conservation in industry, agriculture and at the municipal-administration level.

Similarly, Zhang Tong, deputy chief of the Beijing Institute of Water, urged the city to place restrictions on industries that require large quantities of water.

Beijing mayor Wang Anshun promised citywide water conservation promotion efforts to limit wastefulness.

The middle route's first stage starts at the Danjiangkou Reservoir in the central province of Hubei.

The middle route will supply 9.5 billion cubic meters of water annually to northern regions, including the cities of Beijing and Tianjin, and provinces of Henan and Hebei.

Related Article:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much.

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four. ….”

Jakarta to build 13 artificial lakes in 2012

The Jakarta Post, Thu, 10/06/2011

Apart from completing the construction of the East Flood Canal, Jakarta Administration has announced plans to build 13 artificial lakes in efforts to cope with annual flooding in the capital.

“We are still in the land acquisition process, and the construction work will be carried out in stages,” Jakarta Public Works Agency natural resources management chief Fakhrurrazi said Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that the lakes, the construction of which is expected to begin in 2012, would be built in several locations including Jagakarsa, Bintaro, Lebak Bulus and Marunda.

Fakhrurrazi said the agency would also propose a budget for policing and dredging the lakes, in addition to building lanes around them to prevent citizens to from building houses on their banks.

An illiterate Farmer designs a Water Mill to generate Electricity

The Better India, By NK Suprabha

Siddappa, an illiterate farmer from Somapur village in Gadag district of Karnataka, has designed a water mill to generate electricity. Right from conceptualizing to materialisation, the farmer has done everything on his own. He operates the water mill in the canal near his house.

Using timbers, Siddappa prepared a giant wheel that joined at a central hub. There are eight arms, five feet each, extending from the central hub. A plastic bucket is dangled at the tip of each arm. When the water from two pipes gushes into one of the buckets, it generates the pressure that turns the 10-feet wheel in an anti-clockwise motion. The bucket could also be spun in the horizontal plane using a central steering wheel, similar to a teacup ride. As one after another bucket is driven by the flowing water, the first arm declines back to the ground while the other rises in the air. This process spins the black wheel attached to this giant wheel. The spinning black wheel rotates another wheel connected to a dynamo.

A converter converts the Direct Current from the dynamo into Alternating Current. Siddappa claims to have spent a mere Rs 5000 on building the entire apparatus. This is his second attempt to show the villagers that anybody can produce electricity for self-consumption using the resources at hand. “Many people who have canals flowing near their villages don’t know how to use that natural gift. I want to show them all practically that electricity problems can be solved by being creative. There is no need to beg to the government for everything,” he says.

He gets 150 watts of power from this water mill when water flows in the canal. Siddappa claims he can create electricity for the entire village through his machine. But the problem is that the canal in his village flows only for three months a year!

This article originally appeared in The Sunday Indian (TSI) magazine and has been reproduced here as part of an arrangement between The Better India and TSI. The author, Suprabha Naik is a correspondent with the Kannada Bureau of TSI. Read previous article of this author here.

Readers: If you know of any such ideas/people that you believe we should feature here, please mail to contact [at] thebetterindia.com.

East Flood Canal residents free from flooding

Indah Setiawati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 02/17/2010 5:29 PM

Residents near East Flood Canal in East Jakarta have been enjoying a free-flood neighborhood after the operation by the government of the almost-finish canal since end of last year.

Cipinang Muara resident Hadiyati, 40, whose house is located around 20 meters from the canal, said that she and her family experienced no flood this year thanks to the newly constructed canal.

“In previous years, we would have had water level of up to two meters in height inundating our homes during the rainy season,” she said on Wednesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

News focus: deluges return while flood canal yet completed

Antara News, Bustanuddin, Saturday, January 9, 2010 21:31 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Only several days after welcoming the new year 2010, people in many regions, especially in flood- prone areas, have become depressed by the misery they have to suffer again from massive floods.

In Riau province, for instance, floods have inundated at least 13,236 houses in four districts after local rivers overflowed as a consequence of incessant heavy rains over the past few days.

The floods invaded among others 5,661 homes in Indragiri Hulu, 3,552 in Pelalawan, 2,950 in Kampar, and 1,050 in Rokan Hulu districts.

"As many as 56 villages in nine subdistricts in Indragiri Hulu district were the worst hit as the flood waters there reached heights of up to two meters," Head of the Riau Social Affairs Agency Raja Lukman Mat said recently, adding that his office had sent assistance to a number of flood-affected areas.

The relief assistance comprised foodstuffs and drinking water as well as rice, instant noodle, canned food, kerosene and emergency tents for the flood victims.

In addition, Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare, Agung Laksono extended Rp1 billion worth of assistance for flood victims in Riau province on Friday (Jan 8).

Laksono symbolically handed over the assistance to Riau Governor Rusli Zainal at the opening of the Orphanage Jamboree in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Friday.

The minister requested that local government heads make an evaluation of the situation and find solutions to the reccurring floods.

"Regional governments should ask themselves why the floods happen again and again," he said, adding that the floods were very burdensome for the people, especially for those who every year are affected by the floods.

Apart from that, floods inundated around 2,089 houses in Tebo District, Jambi province, on Thursday following incessant rains during the past week. "Tabir sub district was the worst hit by the flood," RM Ali, head of the Tebo manpower and transmigration office, said here on Thursday.

Some 50 hectares of farming area were also submerged by the flood waters. In Tabir sub district, five villages were affected by the floods. In Embacang Gedang village, some 358 houses were inundated, in Pintas Tuo village around 388 houses, in Bangko Pintas village 87 houses and in Tanah Garo village 890 houses.

"According to latest data, some 1,723 houses in five villages have been affected," Ali said.In Serai Serumpun sub district, some 150 houses were flooded, and in Pagar Puding Lama village, around 50 hectares of farming area were inundated.

The flood waters also hit several other villages along the Batanghari river banks like those in Muara Tabir and Tebo Ulu subdistricts.

"The surface of Batanghari river had already risen in the past three days," said Samsir, a Puntikalo villager when asked in Muaratebo, capital of Tebo regency. He said hundreds of villagers sought higher grounds where the flood water cannot reach.

Samsir said that besides houses, three school buildings were also hit by the flood waters, and had to be closed. The schools included MIS Negeri Punti Kalo, SD 105 in Lebak Bungur village and MIS in Teluk Singkawan.

In addition, at least 30 houses and 20 fish ponds were inundated by a flash flood at Cilaban Bulan village, Menes sub district, Pandeglang District, Banten Province, on Wednesday.

"The flash flood did not claim any life as local residents were quick in evacuating themselves to safer areas," Ade Supriyadi, Cilaban Bulan village head, Menes sub district, said.

Heavy rain that had been falling in the village since 04 am local time and caused the Cilampuyang and Cigarugak rivers to overflow, he said. The flood waters reaching a height of up to 1.3 meter submerged 30 houses and 20 fish ponds.

Floods triggered by days of heavy rains inundated hundreds of homes at Jati Wetan village in Kudus district, Central Java, on Friday.

"The number of flooded homes at Jati Wetan village is about 500. The height of the flood waters varies between 40 cm and 50 cm," a local resident, Yusuf said.

In the meantime, Climatology Meteorology and Geophysics (BMKG) predicted that weather in Bogor district, West Java province in January was classified as normal.

"While in mid and late of January rainfall is high enough," Alidia of the BMKG told Antara on Thursday.Alidia said further that such condition caused by the low air humidity in Asia, while in the Australian region is high.

In the meantime on Wednesday, Vice President Boediono observed Jakarta`s East Flood Canal from a helicopter to obtain a personal impression of the progress achieved in the ongoing project.

During the aerial inspection, the vice president was accompanied by Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo and the head of the Ciliwung-Cisadane River Basins Authority, Pitoyo Soebandrio.

Public Works Minister Joko Kirmanto told the press at the vice presidential palace, work on the East Flood Canal which was intended to alleviate flooding in North and East Jakarta, had reached the Jakarta Bay coastline on December 31, 2009.

"The point is that when it rains, the East Flood Canal is already functioning, although not yet 100 percent," the minister said. According to Pitoyo Soebandrio, the East Flood Canal project was now 97 percent completed.

"As it is, the contractors will continue to work until June 2010. So, the worst possibility is that the East Flood Canal will be finished in June. But it could also be finished in March," he said.

When fully operational, the East Flood Canal will prevent flooding in at least 13 neighborhoods in North and East Jakarta, he said.

The 23-km-long canal cuts through seven river flows, namely the Cipinang, Sunter, Buaran, Cakung, and Jati Kramat rivers. The East Flood Canal project is part of an ambitious flood control master plan for Jakarta that was drawn up in 1973. The project was postponed many times due to lack of funding, land procurement problems and other obstacles.

Between 2001 and 2003, the city administration finally resumed the Rp 4.9 trillion ($519 million) East Flood Canal project. Jakarta suffers from annual flooding. In 2003 and 2007, the floods had disastrous consquences as they killed dozens of people1.0pt;">The city suffered material losses totaling more than $1 billion.

The canal is designed to contain 390 cubic meters of water per second, enough to avert flooding for at least 100 years in previously flood-prone areas.

East Flood Canal to reach sea within days

Indah Setiawati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 12/29/2009 8:29 PM

Governor Fauzi Bowo on Tuesday announced the East Flood Canal (BKT) would reach the sea on Dec. 31.

“As we have promised, on Dec. 31, the BKT will connect with the sea. But we have to admit that there are certain spots that haven't reached the required width,” he said on Tuesday.

Head of the Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Bureau at the Public Works Ministry, Pitoyo Subandrio, confirmed the information, saying the width at some parts of the canal was still 15 meters from the required 70 meters width.

He said the areas needing widening were at the Kali Sunter bridge in East Jakarta, Pahlawan Revolusi bridge, ex-the power substation, Pondok Kopi, Haji Miran, Rawa Bebek and Marunda in North Jakarta.

The unfinished areas, he said, would not hinder the flow of water to the sea as the depth of the locations had reached four to seven meters.

“We have pushed the contractors to connect the canal to the sea by the end of December to mitigate the annual flood in January,” Pitoyo said.

He said the construction of the East Flood Canal was 96.5 percent complete, with the inspection roads, bridges and wire fence as the remaining projects.

He believed the contractors would finish the rest of the project before their contract term finished in June because the city had settled the hardest part – the land procurement – on Dec. 18.

Agency fails to spend money

Triwik Kurniasari, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Tue, 03/03/2009 1:29 PM 

 

Councilors have slammed the public works agency for not making the most of the 2008 budget to complete land acquisition for the East Flood Canal (BKT) project.

 

On Monday the agency reported it had only spent 30 percent of its budget in 2008.

 

Agency head Budi Widiantoro said his office had only used Rp 99 billion (US$8 million) of its Rp 300 billion municipal budget for last year’s BKT project.

 

“We also received about Rp 400 billion from the national budget, but the absorption was only about Rp 202 billion,” Budi said at City Hall.

 

“We faced some hurdles in the land acquisition process. For instance, we received the budget a bit late, in March.

 

“There was also a change in regulation. The National Land Agency [BPN] stipulated that there should be an appraisal process for all areas measuring more than one hectare.”

 

He added his office would appoint a consultant to conduct appraisals to speed the land acquisition process.

 

The administration has pledged to intensify land procurement in the near future for the canal.

The canal is aimed at reducing floods in a 270-square-kilometer flood-prone area straddling East and North Jakarta.

 

The agency also used up only 47 percent of its overall budget, far from last year’s budget absorption target maximum of 85 percent.

 

For 2009, the administration set the budget absorption at 95 percent.

 

Sayogo Hendrosubroto, chairman of City Council Commission D for development affairs, urged the agency to immediately complete the land acquisition.

 

“We approved a big portion of the budget for the canal project, but so far we have not seen the results. The agency has really failed to meet its budget absorption,” he chided.

 

“So we believe it doesn’t need a lot of money to complete the project. The budget will be useless.

 

“It would be better if they allocate a portion of the budget to improve the city’s public facilities, like fixing damaged roads and dredging rivers.”

 

Commission D member Irman Syukur agreed.

 

“We had high hopes that the administration would soon complete the acquisition process,” he said.

 

“The canal is important, but the agency should also pay attention to other facilities, like damaged roads across the capital. Many Jakartans have suffered a lot from the damaged roads.”

 

Agency data shows a total of 178.4 hectares of land in East Jakarta is needed to accommodate the canal and another 82.5 hectares for corridors beside the canal.

 

In North Jakarta, 78.6 hectares is needed for the canal, with 69.4 hectares for its corridors.

This year, Rp 250 billion is allocated for land acquisition in East and North Jakarta for the project.

 

Budi said his agency would allocate Rp 100 billion to procure land until March.

 

“We spent Rp 50 billion during January and February this year. We will allocate another Rp 41 billion this week,” he said.