Soil erosion, floods a deadly mix

• Source: Global Times
• [02:16 July 22 2010]
• Comments

Officers in Liaoyuan, Jilin Province pass sand bags they used to support a dam near a reservoir after a flood created a safety risk. Floods have struck a number of provinces and regions since June and killed 701 people so far. Photo: CFP

By Fu Wen

The Ministry of Water Resources recently acknowledged that soil erosion was one of the main causes of the deadly floods that overwhelmed large regions of South China this summer.

Liu Ning, a deputy minister, told reporters Wednesday that China currently has 3.56 million square kilometers of land with soil erosion problems.

"However, the problem is just one of the major reasons for floods. Strong and concen-trated rainstorms are the most important factors for such large-scale floods," said Liu.

The death toll from floods that began hitting China in June rose to 701 as of Tuesday while 347 people remain missing. About 113 million people in 27 provinces were affected.

Shen Guofang, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told the People's Daily on Tuesday that soil erosion is the major cause of floods. Shen was not available for comment Wednesday.

"Soil erosion sends soil and sand to the bottom of the river and weakens the capacity of riv-erbeds to survive a flood," Liu Hongyan, professor at the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, told the Global Times. "For example, the crucial reason for floods in the Yellow River is water losses and soil erosion of the Loess Plateau."

The river's upper and middle branches wind through the plateau in North China.

"However, to what extent the issue caused the flood disaster was unclear before scientific study was conducted," said Liu.

Liu suggested that more protection forests should be planted to prevent soil erosion caused by human factors.