A clear spring overflows the desert —— The ecological evolution of Dunhuang Crescent Spring
The crescent spring in Mingsha Mountain is a scenic spot in Dunhuang. For thousands of years, sand springs have coexisted, and sand does not cover the springs, which is a spectacle.
From the end of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century, the crescent spring shrank rapidly and the water level partially bottomed out. It has been pessimistically speculated that within three to five years, Crescent Moon Spring will completely dry up. However, since 2008, the water level of Yueya Spring has been rising continuously and the water surface has recovered steadily. At present, the protection of Crescent Moon Spring has shifted from emergency rescue to scientific monitoring, system conditioning and normalization.
General Secretary of the Supreme Leader emphasized that ecological governance, road resistance and long, the line will come. We should not only have the spirit of seizing every minute, but also have perseverance.
Protecting the crescent moon spring is only carried out when it is not completed. For decades, the rise and fall of a clear spring in the desert has tested the wisdom of harmonious coexistence between man and nature and brought many thoughts to the green development of Gobi Oasis.
People live up to the castle peak, and the castle peak will live up to people.
When it comes to desert tourism, Crescent Spring in Mingsha Mountain is undoubtedly a classic punching place. But few people remember that around 2000, Crescent Moon Spring was declared to be suffering from "cancer".
From Dunhuang city, walk 5 kilometers to the south, and you will arrive at the foot of Mingsha Mountain. The undulating yellow sand outlines a neat curve, surrounded by sand mountains on three sides, and a crescent-shaped spring suddenly emerges, with rippling water and shallow fish.
This is the crescent spring at the northern foot of Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang (photo taken on September 9, 2016, photo of drone). Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Bin photo
Historically, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the crescent spring in Mingsha Mountain was a local scene. For more than 1800 years, there is no record that the spring dried up, quicksand buried the spring eye and was "concentrated" into a saltwater lake due to strong evaporation in the year of drought. By the 1960s, the water area of Crescent Spring was still more than 30 mu. However, from the 1970s to the early 21st century, the water level continued to decline and the water surface continued to shrink.
According to the data, from 1986 to 1996, the water level of Crescent Spring dropped by 22 cm annually. From 1997 to 1998, the decline reached 40.1 cm, and the lowest water area was only about 2.56 mu. The news report at that time exclaimed: "If natural failure is not stopped in time, (Crescent Moon Spring) can last until 2005 at most!"
Why is Crescent Spring on the verge of drying up? There are many reasons. According to the data, in the 1960s and 1970s, due to the excessive use of spring water for irrigation, there were few springs left in the past. Since then, Crescent Moon Spring has also suffered from water pollution. "The more important reason is that over-exploitation of groundwater leads to the deterioration of the surrounding water environment." MQ Zhang, a professor at Lanzhou University, said.
In other words, excessive demands almost ruined the crescent moon spring.
From a painful experience, Dunhuang people began to care for the crescent moon spring like their eyes.
This is the crescent spring at the northern foot of Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang (photo taken on June 7, 2023, photo of drone). Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Zhimin photo
For more than 20 years, strict water resources management has been implemented in Yueya Spring and its surrounding areas. In order to maintain the delicate balance of sand spring symbiosis, the sand hills on the north and south sides of the spring are banned, and people need to put on shoe covers when walking around the Crescent Spring.
Li Ying, director of the service center of Yueya Spring Scenic Area in Mingsha Mountain, said that under careful care, the average observed water level of Yueya Spring rose steadily, exceeding 3 meters in 2021 and stabilizing at around 3.2 meters in the past two years. At present, the water area of Yueya Spring is stable at 27.45 mu.
The crescent spring tourism in Mingsha Mountain is also prosperous. As of August 12, Dunhuang received a total of 4.45 million tourists in 2023, an increase of 30% compared with the same period in 2019 and 318% compared with the same period in 2022. Among them, Yueya Spring in Mingsha Mountain received 2.07 million tourists, an increase of nearly 39% over the same period in 2019, and became the "pillar" of Dunhuang cultural tourism industry.
Tourists ride camels in the Crescent Spring Scenic Area of Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang (photo taken on June 7, 2023). Xinhua News Agency (photo by Zhang Xiaoliang)
The ecological, economic and social benefits of crescent spring protection resonate at the same frequency, once again showing a simple and profound truth: people will live up to the green hills, and the green hills will live up to people.
This is the corner of Crescent Spring at the northern foot of Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang (photo taken on June 7, 2023, photo of drone). Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Zhimin photo
From "Rushing to Hospital" to "Combination of Chinese and Western Medicine"
Five kilometers away from Crescent Spring, there is a landscape called "Twelve Lakes". Twelve artificial pools are like mirrors, reflecting the blue sky, and sometimes waterfowl pass by.
This is the "Twelve Lakes" on the bank of Danghe River (photo taken on June 7, 2023, photo of drone). Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Zhimin photo
The Shilian Lake is tailor-made to save the Crescent Moon Spring: the pool water gradually seeps back into the ground, the surrounding groundwater level slowly rises, and the water level of the Crescent Moon Spring correspondingly rises.
After Crescent Moon Spring became "sick", Dunhuang people made many attempts, performed "surgery" and lost "blood".
In 1987, Yueya Spring ushered in the first "major operation" with an investment of 1 million yuan: systematically digging sand and stones at the bottom of the spring and removing impurities from the water. This reflects the limitations of people’s understanding at that time: the spring eye was blocked by sand and stones that penetrated into the bottom of the spring. In fact, it didn’t take long for the crescent spring after the operation, and the water level began to drop again.
Since then, Dunhuang has tried to "transfuse blood": the Danghe River is transported to the artificial lake near the Crescent Spring, and then injected into the Crescent Spring after the water is clarified. The effect of this method on the water level recovery can be described as immediate, but the crescent spring soon became dirty and smelly.
"Danghe River belongs to surface water and contains humus, while Crescent Spring is groundwater. This kind of regardless of blood type, forced ‘ Blood transfusion ’ The way, make the river made ‘ Well water ’ 。” Li Wei said.
In the exploration again and again, Dunhuang has a personal understanding of the construction of ecological civilization: mountains and rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand must adhere to integrated protection and systematic management. Crescent Moon Spring is like the "eyes" of Dunhuang Oasis, so you can’t just order "eye drops" without removing the root cause.
This is the crescent spring at the northern foot of Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang (photo taken on April 24, 2023, photo of drone). Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Bin photo
In fact, the process of saving Crescent Moon Spring is also the process of revealing the symbiosis of sand springs from all walks of life.
On the one hand, Crescent Spring is a natural outcrop of groundwater level in Dunhuang Oasis, and the rise and fall of water level is highly related to the rise and fall of groundwater. On the other hand, the crescent spring is in a delicate balance with the sand hills surrounded on three sides. When the wind blows around the crescent spring, it always makes a centrifugal upward rotation along the surrounding sand hills, scraping up the quicksand under the hillside.
Therefore, to protect the crescent spring, it is necessary to strictly control the water to ensure the stability of the surrounding groundwater level, and also to accurately control the sand to ensure that the surrounding mountains are not deformed and the wind does not change direction.
Li Ying said that in the crescent spring area of Mingsha Mountain, it is not that the more windbreak and sand control forests are planted, the better. Whether to plant trees, what trees to plant, where to plant trees and how many trees to plant are all knowledge. Over the years, researchers from Northwest Institute of Ecological Environment and Resources of China Academy of Sciences have been conducting ecological monitoring and experiments all the year round to further clarify the mystery of sand spring symbiosis.
"Shilian Lake" was built to restore the original groundwater recharge environment as much as possible and improve the self-repair ability of Crescent Spring. More than 20 years ago, Dunhuang announced the prohibition of land reclamation and immigration to maintain the water ecological balance of the oasis.
This is the "Twelve Lakes" on the bank of Danghe River (photo taken on June 7, 2023, photo of drone). Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Zhimin photo
MQ Zhang believes that the fundamental policy to protect Crescent Moon Spring is to strictly manage water use, optimize water use structure and maintain the ecological balance of groundwater in Dunhuang Oasis.
A series of actions to save Crescent Moon Spring show that just as resource development can’t be done recklessly, ecological management can’t be done hard. We should not only make up our minds to operate and remove the root cause of the disease, but also make continuous efforts to "treat the disease before it happens" like Chinese medicine.
Changing Development Mode and Protecting Oasis Ecology
At the foot of Mingsha Mountain and on the edge of the oasis, there is a "neighbor" with the same name as Crescent Spring: Crescent Spring Village.
Yueyaquan village was originally a farming village. In the 1980s, villagers tasted the sweetness of tourism for the first time, and started to carry a pack tour in the scenic spot. But by the end of 1990s, when tourists came all the way to visit the desert wonders where sand springs coexist, they found that the mountains were still there and the springs were almost gone.
Camel teams carrying tourists walk on the camel road in Yueya Spring Scenic Area of Mingsha Mountain (photo taken on April 24, 2023). Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Bin photo
"Don’t say that tourists don’t want to come. People in our village are afraid that their hometown will become an ancient loulan." Qin Zuotao, 50-year-old Party branch secretary of Yueyaquan Village, said, "If you want to earn high income, you must engage in tourism; If you want to travel, you have to be ecologically good. "
Looking back at the decades when the Crescent Moon Spring has declined and prospered, it is also the decades when the villagers of Crescent Moon Spring have innovated their production methods and their days have become more and more prosperous.
Since 2000, more than 2,000 mu of cultivated land in Yueyaquan Village has been withdrawn with compensation. The remaining 1,000 mu of land has also been replanted with special fruits such as Li Guangxing and Ziyan Peach, which consume less water. The reduction of planting area has effectively reduced the demand for groundwater. Six pumping wells in the village finally stopped working.
In addition to piggyback transportation, villagers also set up farmhouse music and camp in the desert. Last year, the per capita net income of farmers reached more than 23,000 yuan. Tourism has also brought fire to local fruits. The average income per mu is three times that of traditional crops, and the average annual water consumption per mu has dropped from 522 cubic meters in 2000 to 380 cubic meters.
Camel teams carrying tourists walk on the camel road in Yueya Spring Scenic Area of Mingsha Mountain (photo taken on April 24, 2023). Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Bin photo
"In the past, the environment forced people to go. Now it is a good life and a good environment to retain people and attract people." Qin Zuotao said that the registered population of the village has risen from 800 in 2000 to more than 1,100 now, and there are more than 600 migrant workers every year.
For the crescent spring to continue to improve, it is necessary not only to systematically control the grass and sand in the mountains, rivers, forests, fields and lakes, but also to adjust the relationship between good people and nature. As far as the latter is concerned, the fundamental way out is for the whole Dunhuang Oasis to bid farewell to extensive development, strictly implement the "four waters and four determinations" and realize green development.
Lin Shi, secretary of the Dunhuang Municipal Party Committee, said that Dunhuang focused on the oasis resource endowment and development potential, and actively built an oasis modern industrial system represented by efficient water-saving agriculture, cultural tourism industry and new energy industry.
Tourists visit Yueya Spring Scenic Spot in Mingsha Mountain, Dunhuang (photo taken on June 7, 2023). Xinhua News Agency (photo by Zhang Xiaoliang)
In the area of Huang Qu Town, Dunhuang City, corn is green. Before the spring ploughing this year, the local area leveled the fragmentary land into high-standard farmland, and simultaneously implemented the water and fertilizer integration project. Nowadays, the deployed equipment can provide water and nutrients for crops more finely in corresponding seasons, and the extensive water use mode of flood irrigation has been greatly improved.
Cao Wenliang, deputy director of the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Dunhuang City, said that from 2022, Dunhuang City plans to build a total of 225,000 mu of high-standard farmland in three to five years, all supporting water and fertilizer integration projects. The standardized irrigation system with uniform, regular and quantitative pipelines and emitters will effectively improve the efficiency and benefit of water resources utilization.
Promoting high-quality development by cultivating green industries and stimulating ecological protection consciousness by increasing people’s income. In the benign interaction between protection and development, this piece of "clear water and sand mountain" is quietly transforming into "Jinshan Yinshan".
To conserve Dunhuang’s ecology and realize green development, it is necessary for Qi Xin from all walks of life to make concerted efforts, and it is even more necessary to work hard for a long time.
Reporter: Xiang Qingkai, zhangqin, Zhang Yujie, He Wen.
Video reporters: Zhang Zhimin, Chen Bin, Fang Xin.
Poster design: Zhao Danyang
Editor: Wang Li, Jiang Xiao, Bao Feifei, Hu Bixia, Cheng Hao
Coordinator: Cao Jiangtao and He Yuxin