Chinese dried-up lake revives in desert

LANZHOU -- Desertification control efforts have helped revive a dried up lake in Northwest China's Gansu province.

Qingtu Lake in Minqin County reached a size of 25.16 square kilometers by the end of 2017, though the lake had been dry for around 50 years until 2010, said Qiu Deyu, director of the county water resources office.

The local government set up a groundwater monitoring well around 1 km from the lake in 2007. Monitoring figures show the groundwater depth, narrowed from 4.02 meters in 2007 to 2.94 in 2017, an annual average increase of 10.8 cm for groundwater levels over the past 10 years, according to Qiu.

Qingtu Lake is located in the lower reaches of the Shiyang River in Minqin County, where China's deserts the Badain Jaran and Tengger meet. Known as the "hometown of sand," the county is a major source of sandstorms in China.

Qiu said revival of the lake was due to ecological rehabilitation along the Shiyang River as well as forestation in the surrounding deserts of Minqin County.

"The former dried up lake has become a habitat for migrant birds on their migration routes," he said.