Flooding in Guangxi Causes Heavy Casualties, Reservoir Built During Great Leap Forward Era

(CNA Taipei, July 9) A press conference on flood control and disaster relief in Nanning City, Guangxi, announced today that at least 39 people have died and 9 are missing, including those affected by the flood caused by the breach of the Liulan Reservoir. The Liulan Reservoir in Hengzhou City, Guangxi, breached on July 6, causing heavy casualties in the area. The reservoir was built during the "Great Leap Forward" era.

According to reports from Hong Kong media, the press conference stated that the Liulan Reservoir and Yunbiao Reservoir in Hengzhou City were both built in 1958 and are medium-sized reservoirs with homogeneous earth dams. Starting from July 6, water conservancy experts went to the site to provide guidance for emergency rescue and disaster relief, assessing the reservoir with a breached dam, closely monitoring water level changes, inspecting dam deformation, analyzing discharge flow, and studying measures to reduce water levels to prevent further escalation of the danger.

Currently, the water level of the Liulan Reservoir has dropped below the bedrock of the dam, and the reservoir's breach and flow have basically stabilized. Starting from August 8, local authorities began repairing the road leading to the Liulan Reservoir dam, and by this morning, it has been repaired up to the dam crest. Starting today, river channel dredging and desilting will also be organized.

As the water level of the Yunbiao Reservoir has basically dropped to its dead water level, if there is no significant inflow from upstream, the reservoir's impact on the downstream flooded areas will tend to stabilize.

According to a report by Hong Kong's Ming Pao, the disaster in Hengzhou was mainly caused by the breach of the Liulan Reservoir. This reservoir, built in 1958 during the Great Leap Forward era, was constructed by 35,000 migrant workers who carried soil by shoulder pole and hand, filling and compacting it with cohesive soil. It remains the largest medium-sized reservoir in the area. The Liulan Reservoir dam is 42 meters high, controls a drainage area of 195 square kilometers, and is the central hub of Hengzhou's water network.

In recent years, the local area received 380 million RMB (approximately 1.786 billion TWD) from the Ministry of Water Resources for the comprehensive renovation and upgrade of the Liulan Reservoir irrigation district, but this did not involve reinforcing the main dam body. In August 2024, the Liulan Reservoir began a systematic renovation and upgrade project, which was completed in June of last year.

According to local official media reports, after the standardized upgrade, the Liulan Reservoir's "flood control and safety capabilities have been significantly enhanced, enabling it to effectively resist the impact of heavy rainfall during the flood season," thus building a strong "safety dike" for the lives and property of over 100,000 people in the downstream townships. (Editor: Zhu Jianling / Lu Jiarong) 1150709

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