The Three-North Project is the world's largest super ecological project. The Three Norths refer to the northwest of China, the north of North China and the west of Northeast China, where there are eight deserts, four sandy lands and the vast Gobi, which is the area with the most scarce forest and grass vegetation, the most fragile ecological environment and the most scarce ecological products in China.
In the 70s of the 20th century, the forest coverage rate in the Sanbei region was only 505%, the total area of desertified land is 1.28 million square kilometers, accounting for about 90% of the country's desertified land area, forming a 10,000-mile wind-blown sand line from Heilongjiang in the east to Xinjiang in the west. Over the past 45 years, the Three-North Project has adhered to institutional innovation and national leadership, and achieved desertification prevention and control and improved people's livelihood through industry-led and land greening. Through the implementation of the Three-North Project, the experience and model of the state in organizing major ecological projects have been explored, which has laid the foundation for the follow-up Beijing-Tianjin sand source control project, the integrated protection and restoration project of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sands, etc., and realized the historic transformation from "sand entering and people retreating" to "green entering and sand retreating".
The results are gratifying, but the problems are still prominent. The grassroots generally reflect that the construction of the Three-North Project has entered the most strenuous stage, and the serious shortage of ecological water rationing has become a "bottleneck" problem in the vegetation construction of the Three-North Project, which seriously affects the stability and long-term development of desertification prevention and control. The problem of ecological water use for vegetation construction in the Sanbei region seems to be stuck in "water", but in fact, it is difficult in "fields" and "management".
The breakthrough point lies in scientific analysis and proper resolution of the contradiction between "agriculture, forestry and water" in the three norths. In order for the people to better survive and develop, the relationship between high-quality development and high-level protection must be properly handled. Vegetation construction is an important way for high-level protection in the Sanbei region, and modern, efficient and water-saving industries are the inevitable choice for the high-quality development of the Sanbei region.
At present, the problem of ecological water use in the Three North region seems to be a contradiction in the allocation of water resources for production, life and ecology, but it is actually a contradiction between development and protection.
First of all, the ecological stability of the Three North region is an important support for the high-quality development of the region, and it is necessary to plan for high-quality development from the perspective of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. For the high-quality development of the Three Norths region, the carrying capacity of water resources must be regarded as a rigid constraint, and production, life, and ecology must be limited to the limits of water resources. Industries in arid areas should be developed and ecology should be protected. Which is more important? are all very important and cannot be wasted. It is necessary not only to weigh the population, industry orientation, and local interests, but also to coordinate the whole basin and the overall research and judgment. This is a common problem faced by the Tarim River, Heihe River, Shiyang River, Danghe River and Shule River basins in the northwest arid region.
Secondly, the concept of systematic governance is gradually taking root in the hearts of the people, and it is urgent to twist the "people" into a rope to completely solve the phenomenon of segmentation and decentralized governance, and strengthen the coordination and cooperation between the competent departments of the industry. Taking farmland shelterbelts in arid areas as an example, farmland shelterbelts can play an effective role in windbreak and sand fixation to maintain water and soil, but the long-term irrigation water problem of farmland shelterbelts is a "confused account" and lacks institutional guarantees: farmland shelterbelts belong to farmers according to land attributes, forest mouths according to ecological function attributes, and irrigation water rationing belongs to water outlets, which leads to shelterbelts can only follow the flooding irrigation of farmland to "taste the beginning".
Thirdly, the problem of degradation of farmland shelterbelts in the Sanbei region has been very serious, and water shortage is an important factor. It is suggested that the allocation of farmland shelterbelts should be a mandatory option for high-standard farmland construction projects in the Sanbei region, and the "one-vote veto" should be implemented during project acceptance, so as to coordinate and solve the policy support of shelterbelt land, funds, and water to ensure implementation.
What is the way to solve the ecological water dilemma in the Three Norths region? The first is to adhere to systematic thinking, strengthen departmental coordination, strengthen the construction of forestry and grassland institutions at all levels in the Three Norths region, optimize and adjust the water resources distribution system, make overall arrangements for the ecological water share of the Three Norths Project, and promote the best enterprises to participate in the ecological construction of the Three Norths (such as photovoltaic + ecological governance) to earnestly fulfill their social responsibilities, and incorporate ecological construction into mandatory institutional arrangements. The second is to adhere to scientific and technological innovation, on the one hand, vigorously develop water-saving and high-efficiency ecological agriculture, and innovate and develop modern water-saving facility agriculture based on the photovoltaic industry; On the other hand, we should insist on determining greenery with water, vigorously develop water-saving forests and grasslands, strengthen the research on the optimal allocation of trees, shrubs and grasses based on the carrying capacity of water resources, carry out the basic investigation of ecological background and data normalization and compilation in the Sanbei region as soon as possible, find out the water resources in the Sanbei region, and drive the Sanbei project to tackle key problems with the scientific and technological research of the Sanbei, and effectively serve to win the battle of the Sanbei project. (The author, Lu Qi, is the president of the Sanbei Engineering Research Institute, **Economy**).
*:Economy**.