An aerial photo of the Songtao Reservoir, the largest body of water in Hainan. [Photo by Chen Yuancai / Hainan Daily]

The construction of modern water conservancy projects in South China's Hainan province has been continuously advancing, and the island has gradually developed its basic water conservancy projects network.

In 1958, Hainan carried out its largest water project construction, with a whopping 120,000 people joining in the first phase project of the Songtao Reservoir, the largest body of water in Hainan. The project, which provided electricity for tens of thousands of homes and irrigation water for over a million acres of land, also marked the beginning of the province's accelerated pace in modern water conservancy projects.

In recent years, the province has made great efforts to promote the construction water conservancy network. It has set up a network of interconnections between rivers through water conservancy and irrigation projects, seeking to build an ecological water system to ensure that water can be diverted to, reserved in, and drained away from the island.

Since 2018, Hainan started to plan other major projects that aim to benefit the province's long-term prospects, improve people's livelihoods, and shore up the province's water conservancy disadvantages. The moves include water supply projects in southwest Hainan, the Changhua River water resources allocation project, as well as the Niululing and Maiwan irrigation zone projects.

With the completion of the Songtao, Daguang Dam, Xiaomei, Hongling, Dalong, and Niululing water conservancy projects, Hainan's hydraulic engineering network is gradually taking shape. The total reservoir capacity of the province has increased by 8.443 billion cubic meters compared with that at the beginning of the province's establishment in 1988, which has effectively improved the uneven distribution of water resources on Hainan Island, resulting in notable economic, social, and ecological benefits.