Chapter 1371: East Water West Transfer
How to develop water-saving agriculture is indeed a new challenge for East Africa today. After all, this is a new project involving the entire country and has no historical experience.
Ernst first emphasized: "The essence of water-saving agriculture is to spend within one's means, rather than saving for the sake of saving. After all, the essence of our development of water-saving agriculture is to improve the utilization efficiency of water resources, thereby promoting the improvement of agricultural production efficiency. The rational use of water resources and sustainable nourishment of agriculture, industry, society and residents is our ultimate goal."
In response to this, the water conservancy department mentioned: "Your Majesty, according to your instructions, we have set up a roughly feasible plan. We mainly start from the allocation of water sources to solve the national water shortage problem."
"First of all, we must make it clear that East Africa is not a country that lacks fresh water resources. On the contrary, the Empire has relatively abundant water resources."
"So, the problem of freshwater resources across the country is mainly reflected in the uneven distribution in time and space. We plan to build a number of water diversion projects in the next ten years, especially in the south where the main water source of the empire is lacking and industrial and agricultural water use is relatively tight."
"We will use Orange Province, Baden Province and Hechingen Province as pilot areas to build large-scale water diversion projects."
The scope of the Orange Province, Baden Province, and Hechingen Province is roughly the intersection of South Africa and Botswana in the previous life, the edge of the Kalahari Desert and the northern part of the South African Plateau.
The annual precipitation here gradually changes from 200 mm to 800 mm from west to east, with most areas receiving less than 600 mm.
Among them, areas with precipitation below 200 mm are so-called arid zones, which can also be simply understood as desert areas. It is almost impossible to make them habitable places through artificial transformation.
In fact, more than 200 mm is not enough. In the past, the major cities in the Far East Empire with an annual precipitation of around 200 mm included Xining, Lanzhou and Yinchuan.
It can be seen from the development of these cities that if they rely on that pitiful amount of rain, it will be impossible to support the lives of millions of people and the development of industry and agriculture.
The main reason these cities were able to develop is that they relied on rivers for water supply, and this river is the Yellow River.
The conditions in the pilot area for water diversion projects designated by the Ministry of Water Resources are actually better than those in the Far East Empire area mentioned above. After all, the precipitation in this area is over 200 mm, and can even reach over 800 mm to the east.
It covers an area of about 300,000 square kilometers, which means that from the 800 mm isohyet to the 200 mm isohyet, all are within this "narrow" area.
The reason why the word "narrow" is used is mainly because it is compared with the Far Eastern Empire. The 800 mm isohyet of the Far Eastern Empire is approximately along the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River, while the 200 mm isohyet is in Inner Mongolia, Helan Mountains, Qilian Mountains, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
The range between the two precipitation lines is much larger than the southern part of East Africa.
"The reason why the southern region has relatively little rainfall is mainly because the Drakensberg Mountains block the water vapor from the Indian Ocean," said Yarsde, the Minister of Water Resources.
"In fact, in the Hansa and Plain provinces east of the Drakensberg Mountains, there is no lack of rainfall, but rather they are often affected by floods."
"The main river in the south, the Orange River, also originates from the Drakensberg Mountains, which is very beneficial for us to transfer water from the east."
Although the Orange River is the boundary river between East Africa and South Africa (British colonies), the main stream and tributaries in the upper reaches are distributed in the shape of a crown within East Africa or in the border areas.
Moreover, the Orange River flows from east to west, which can be said to be very beneficial to East Africa.
After all, the further west the river goes, the more it passes through the arid regions of East Africa, until it reaches the sea in the Namib Desert.
Without the Orange River, the already arid southern East Africa would be unimaginable.
Yarsde went on to say: “We can use the Orange River to transfer water from east to west within the region at a lower cost.”
"This way, we can open up more arable land and pastures in the South, making it a high-quality agricultural production area and pastureland in the world."
"Water resources are the only major obstacle restricting the development of the southern provinces. If this problem is solved, the South can become one of the most industrially and agriculturally developed regions in East Africa."
As early as the 1940s and 1950s, East African governments had envisioned the future development prospects of the South and the Great Lakes region. However, during the 1940s and 1950s, the main investments of East African governments flowed to the Great Lakes region.
The reason is very simple. The Great Lakes region has a larger population, a good agricultural foundation, sufficient water resources, and plays an important role in the development of the northern economy in East Africa.
The northern part of East Africa is vast in area, but due to various reasons, it has become an economic low point in East Africa. Therefore, East Africa is more urgent to develop the Great Lakes region than the south.
As for the south, if the southwest is included, the area is actually not small, but the positioning of the southwest in East Africa is very clear, that is, it is basically impossible to have much development, and in the future it can basically only make a living by selling mines.
After all, apart from its mineral resources, the climate in the southwest is too harsh and is basically placed in the same location as the Congo Rainforest Reserve.
Including the Southwest Province, there are only six administrative provinces in the southern part of East Africa, while there are more than a dozen provinces in the north.
Yarsd said: "In addition to the Southwest Province, the East-West Water Diversion Project mainly aims to solve the water shortage problem in the three provinces of Orange, Hechingen and Baden."
"If the water shortage problem in these three provinces is solved, the economy of the entire south will be further developed and become an economic block comparable to the three major economic core areas of the east, middle and west of my country."
Although the South is small in area, it is the most resource-rich place in East Africa. Except for oil and natural gas energy, it can fully achieve economic self-sufficiency.
Moreover, its climate is more suitable for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry in East Africa because it is the only temperate region in East Africa.
Most of East Africa's southern provinces are located south of the Tropic of Capricorn.
This is also the most suitable place in East Africa to develop agriculture and animal husbandry, especially high-quality agriculture and animal husbandry. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the Boers and Zulus to make a living by grazing here.
“We plan to start from the mountainous areas of Lesotho and Swaziland, especially the mountainous areas of Lesotho, to divert some rivers into the Orange River, thereby replenishing the water volume of the Vaal River, a tributary of the Orange River,” Yarsde said.
"At the same time, a large reservoir will be built in the lower reaches of the Fal River to intercept the river water, and multiple main canals will be built to divert the water of the Fal River to the plains on both sides of the river."
"This is a long-term plan that we expect to complete within 20 years. It will not only require the construction of several large dams upstream, but also the construction of some tunnels. Ultimately, the construction of supporting facilities downstream is also a huge and complex project."
Here, the East-West Water Diversion Project is very similar to the Lesotho Plateau Water Diversion Project between South Africa and Lesotho in the past, but East Africa’s ambitions are obviously greater.
After all, in its past, Lesotho was just a black reservation that even South Africa looked down upon, and the water diversion project between the two countries could be considered a cross-border cooperation.
But this is not the case in East Africa. Lesotho is originally a part of East Africa, so East Africa does not need to consider too much, and the amount of water diverted in East Africa will exceed the Lesotho Plateau Water Diversion Project in the previous life.
In the past, as an independent country, Lesotho could not be completely united with South Africa, and its own country also needed to be more conservative in the scale of water transfer for sustainable development.
East Africa has basically given up on developing Lesotho. Lesotho is a mountainous area for East Africa. Its population only needs to be maintained at a maximum of several hundred thousand, or even less than one hundred thousand. It does not need to develop industry, agriculture and other tasks. It only needs to serve as a water source for East Africa.
This also means that East Africa can draw more water from Lesotho. After all, with a smaller population, local water consumption will be greatly reduced.
In addition, the East-to-West Water Diversion Project in East Africa has not only Lesotho as a water source, but multiple water sources. In addition to Lesotho, there are also Drakensberg Mountains water sources such as Swaziland.
From this point of view, East Africa's East-West Water Diversion Project is more like Australia's East-West Water Diversion Project in the past, and the two are also quite similar in natural conditions.
The Drakensberg Mountains can be seen as Australia's Great Dividing Range, while cities east of the Great Dividing Range such as Melbourne and Sydney can be seen as cities such as New Hamburg and Maputo east of the Drakensberg Mountains in East Africa.
The Great Artesian Basin west of the Great Dividing Range can be compared to the South African Plateau west of the Drakensberg Mountains, and the Darling Murray River can be regarded as the Orange River. Even the dimensions of the two regions are similar.
Therefore, the East-West Water Diversion Project in southern East Africa is more similar to the East-West Water Diversion Project in Australia in the previous life, even the distribution of economic development is the same.
The reason why we emphasize economic distribution is that the economic distribution in South Africa in the previous life is very different from the development situation under the rule of East Africa in this time and space.
In this time and space, because of East Africa, the economy east of the Drakensberg Mountains is more developed. Maputo and the port city of Nova Hamburg rank high among East African cities. Maputo has a registered population of over 500,000 and a permanent population of over 600,000, making it a big city in East Africa.
Needless to say, the New Port of Hamburg is an old industrial city in East Africa and also a center of opening up, culture, education, etc. in southern East Africa. Although its economy has been surpassed by Maputo, its comprehensive strength is the strongest.
Cities west of the Drakensberg Mountains are far less developed than those east of the Drakensberg Mountains due to past restrictions on East African policies.
But the situation was just the opposite in the previous life. Under the rule of South Africa, cities such as Pretoria, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Kimberley and others west of the Drakensberg Mountains had stronger economies and were even ranked among the best in the world.
From this we can see the dominant influence of East Africa's economic system on regional development.
However, East Africa is now going to loosen up the development of the southern region. In the past, East Africa restricted the development of the south mainly from the perspectives of geopolitical security and natural environment.
In terms of geo-security, the target is naturally the South African colonies. Although the South African colonies are weak, they represent the giant Britain.
However, up to now, East Africa is not taken seriously by its sovereign country, Britain, let alone the South African colony, and the geopolitical crisis has been completely resolved.
In terms of the natural environment, the only shortcoming of the south is the shortage of water resources, and the East-to-West Water Diversion Project is now aimed at solving this problem.
Once the East-West Water Diversion Project is completed, the last shortcoming in the development of the south will be made up.
Yarsde said: "This East-to-West Water Diversion Project will also become a landmark project of our Ministry of Water Resources in the Fifth Five-Year Plan, and its significance is no less than that of other national grand strategies."
During the Fourth Five-Year Plan period, the landmark project of East African water conservancy was the Xingguo Dam in the Great Lakes region, which raised the water level of the entire Great Lakes by nearly two meters. At the same time, the construction of the Xingguo Dam increased the region's power generation capacity, contributed to the rise of Jinga City, and greatly improved shipping conditions in the Great Lakes region.
The East-to-West Water Diversion Project will naturally become a landmark project of the Ministry of Water Resources during the Fifth Five-Year Plan period. This project may even be enough to sustain for many years. After all, the Ministry of Water Resources expects it to be completed within 20 years.
After the disappearance of black slaves, engineering construction in East Africa inevitably slowed down. If it were in the past, the Ministry of Water Resources would probably have completed this strategic project during the Fifth Five-Year Plan.
In fact, in the transitional period that completely ended the "slave" era, East Africa's economic and social development showed many problems.
In the past, because of the large number of cheap black slaves, East African projects were not afraid of casualties and could be carried out as quickly as possible, which is why East Africa has achieved many amazing results in the past half century.
After the complete abolition of black slavery, East Africa could only hire local workers to complete various construction projects. There is no doubt that the cost-effectiveness of local workers cannot be compared with that of "slaves".
It was the rapid popularization of mechanization in East Africa that solved the "slave labor dependence" in most industries in East Africa to a certain extent.
The reason for this to a certain extent is that in some production areas, cheap labor still has more advantages. For example, in many plantations in East Africa, many crops cannot be produced on a large scale by mechanization for various reasons.
The most typical examples are cotton and rubber. Cotton picking relies on manual labor. Even though relevant mechanical inventions have been made in East Africa, they cannot replace manual labor due to various drawbacks. For example, mechanical harvesting of cotton wool inevitably involves impurities.
This is even more true for rubber, which can only be cut manually. After all, rubber comes from rubber trees, and regular scratches must be made on it to achieve repeated harvesting. Currently, East African researchers cannot think of a machine that can harvest rubber.
At least we can develop related machinery for cotton, but there is no idea at all about harvesting rubber. After all, harvesting rubber is not as simple as cutting down trees.
Other cash crops also face various problems, but the East African government has concluded that "slaves" are the most useful and almost omnipotent tool.
However, since slavery has been abolished in East Africa, it can only find other solutions. In addition to developing relevant machinery as much as possible, the East African government's solution is to maintain the cultivation of cash crops in East Africa through subsidies and contracting.
In recent years, there has been a trend of transferring related agricultural production to colonies, such as planting rubber in the colonies, then shipping it back to the mainland for processing, and finally exporting it overseas.
Therefore, compared with the planting industry, the water conservancy department, which is mainly an engineering department, was relatively less affected by the end of slavery. Moreover, due to the increase in the degree of mechanization, its work efficiency was greatly improved.
However, if there is a choice, the Ministry of Water Resources will definitely support the continued use of "black slaves". In these special projects, humans are still the most reliable.
(End of this chapter)
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