The historical changes of Shiyang River

Historically, the superior natural conditions of the Shiyang River Basin nourished the people of ancient Liangzhou and promoted social and economic development. In the central oasis area, due to the tributaries of the Shiyang River irrigating farmland, the river water flows for a long time. Through seepage, the springs in the central part of the country emerge from the Hongshui Village at the end of the Gurang River and merge into the Hongshui River. From east to west, each river flows one after another. The springs gush out at the tail and merge into spring rivers such as Baita River, Haizang River, Nansha River, and Beisha River, which irrigate farmland and become the essence of ancient Liangzhou.

According to "A Brief History of Ganning and Ningxia": The paving of sand fields on Gansu's dry land to preserve moisture and resist drought began in the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty. The founder is not known who he was. At that time, some people in Yongdeng, Gulang, and Jingtai counties The dry flats are paved and the sand brine often turns into sludge. There are different types of sand, with gravel sand being the top, followed by flake sand, and fine sand being the third. The strength of sand can only last about 30 years, so the old sand needs to be removed and replaced with new sand, which is very labor-intensive. From then on, the use of rainwater to protect agriculture began. Until now, paving sand fields is still one of the unique measures to use rainwater to protect moisture in arid areas.

According to statistics in 1949, the effective irrigated land in Wuwei region was 1.94 million acres, accounting for about 38% of the total cultivated land area at that time; the guaranteed irrigation area was only over 720,000 acres, accounting for about 15% of the total cultivated land area, accounting for 37% of the effective water area.