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An innovative environment project that protects Beijing’s drinking water is also helping subsistence farmers in the surrounding mountains.

The Miyun and Huairou reservoirs, northeast of the capital, supply half the drinking water for Beijing’s growing population. The artificial lakes are surrounded by mountains with a thin topsoil that washes away in heavy rain, ruining farmers’ crops and contaminating the reservoirs.

A $17 million component of the Beijing Environmental Improvement Project, which was partly financed by ADB, significantly raised the quality of potable water, says Shuhuai Duan, Chief Engineer of the Beijing Municipal Soil and Water Conservation Center.

To reduce the risks of storms carrying away the fragile earth and contaminating rivers and reservoirs, the Beijing Municipal Government took several measures to stabilize the soil. These include planting large areas of trees and building hundreds of terraces, dams, and diversionary canals.

Undoubtedly, such steps helped save lives and improve the livelihood of many small-scale farmers.

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High in the mountains, scattered boulders in a dry riverbed still attest to a landslide in 1989 that killed several people, wiped out livestock, and destroyed hundreds of homes in the village of Fan Zi Pai.

Recalls Zheng Fuming, director of the local water management bureau, “The water reached waist-high in this house. People were very frightened.”

These days, a large concrete dam above the village slows floodwater and blocks the rocks, enabling residents to weather storms without serious mishap.

But the root solution is higher up in the mountains. In the upper reaches of the mountains, the authorities have planted thousands of pine trees, sometimes dropping seeds from a plane in the steepest areas.

Overgrazing has contributed to denuding the terrain. Now there are signs prohibiting grazing.

“They only allow us to graze sheep in certain areas because of the soil erosion,” says shepherd Song Zhaohua as he watches his flock of 150 scampering sheep.

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On the gentler slopes, the project is terracing the land and leasing it out to fruit farmers for long periods—up to 50 years—at low rents.

At an experimental station, Geng Zhihui, Vice Director of the Miyun County Water Bureau, says tests show that rain causes 10 times more soil runoff from sloping land than flat land.

“So we are leveling slopes and encouraging the development of orchards, which have a stabilizing effect on the soil,” he explains.

Farmer Wang Reizhong, 38, says he moved to Miyun from a much smaller farm because he was attracted by the government offer. “They terraced the land and provided irrigation facilities and now I can grow new varieties of fruit, such as apricots and grapes. I hope to make a lot more money than before,” he says.

He also provides employment for villagers—10 are required in the winter and up to 70 in the summer, he says. One is Wang Lian Fa, a cheerful 60-year-old, who bicycles from a nearby village to earn 15 yuan ($2) a day working in the vineyard.

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In the flatter ravines and gullies, the project has also provided thousands of “check dams,” low stone walls that slow water flows and retain precious soil.

In the settlement of Duanshuling in Huairou, village elder Huang Xueliang says, “Before the dams, the water washed away the soil, and we did not have enough to feed ourselves. Now we hope to fill our bellies.”

In the village of Miao Ying, leader Chen Zhenliu says the check dams opened up new opportunities. “We used to grow corn, but now we are cultivating tubers and root crops for making Chinese medicines,” he says. “We have a contract with firms that make the medicine and, when our first crops are due this fall, we expect to make eight times more income than we did with the corn. All the villagers will benefit.”

By improving the environment, another project benefit will be helping boost tourism in the area. Miyun, 90 km from Beijing, is attracting more city people during holidays and weekends. Many small restaurants and guesthouses have opened, along with hotels and recreational facilities.

“All in all, we regard this as a very successful project that has raised the quality of Beijing’s drinking water, improved the environment, and helped reduce poverty,” says ADB’s Sam Chin, Senior Portfolio Management Specialist.

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