Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake also experiences low water level which has caused drinking water shortage and damaged industries. (China Photos/Getty Images)
The lake may be gradually drying up over the coming decades. If that occurs, Larus relictus, the endangered relict gulls, will lose their breeding habitat.
Hongjiannao Wetland is a state-level reservation wetland. Of major concern is the fact that its water sources are being intercepted. “This seriously reduces the water supply and the self-purification capacity of the lake,” explained China’s well-known wetland ecologist, Chen Kelin, while attending the International Conference for Hongjiannao Wetland and Relict Gull Protection in Shenmu County, Shaanxi Province.
According to a state-run Xinhua media report, Mr. Chen said, “Because of climate change and man-made factors, Lop Nur (in Xinjiang Autonomous Region) has dried up and become a desert. If we don’t take urgent action now, Hongjiannao Wetland may dry up completely in the coming decades.”
Hongjiannao Wetland is the largest desert freshwater lake in China, located on the border of Shaanxi Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, at the junction of the Ordos Plateau and Maowusu desert. There are many small lakes around it.
From 1970 to 1990, Hongjiannao Wetland was 100,000 mu (Chinese acres) or approximately 16,474 acres. It was not only an important land for the fishing industry, but also a breeding habitat of the world’s endangered animals, such as the relict gulls. It has played a major role in the conservation of rare animals.
However, over the last nine years, the water level has apparently dropped. It has dropped 7.8 inches per year in recent years. The lake has shrunk to about 70,000 mu (approximately 11,532 acres).
The Deputy Director of the Hongjiannao Wetland Scenic Spot Committee in Shaanxi Province, Yang Fengming, was born in the area and has worked there for many years. He said that there are seven rivers in the Hongjiannao basin, including three in Inner Mongolia. However, its biggest water source, Yingpa River, was intercepted by a dam in 2006. Another major water source, Manggaitu River, has also been intercepted for a dam this year.
Yang said that the four rivers in Shaanxi Province are small, so they can supply little water. The two major river sources in Inner Mongolia have also been intercepted, which means that the major water source of Hongjiannao Wetland has been directly cut off.
Mr. Yang said that it will not only speed up the desertification of the wetland, but also threaten the habitats of more than 20 species of rare birds, especially the world-endangered relict gulls. In the long term, it will result in an ecological disaster.
