新京报/The Beijing News is reporting that 15 rainwater-collecting ponds will be built along the Yongding River. This is excellent news in a city so desperately short of water.
永定河建15个雨水收集湖
15 rainwater collecting lakes built along the Yongding River
年蓄水可近100万立方米，将用于浇灌河床绿地
Can collect close to 1 million cubic metres of water per year which is used to irrigate green spaces along the river bed.
丰台区水务局昨天发布，永定河丰台段西堤建成了15个雨水收集湖，年蓄水可近100万立方米。
Yesterday the Fengtai District water department announced that 15 rainwater collecting lakes have been built along the west bank of the Yongding River as it runs through Fengtai, which collect close to 1 million cubic metres of water each year.
丰台区水务局负责人介绍，15个雨水收集湖中，最大的湖能蓄水18万立方，15个收集湖年集水能力达100万立方米，可以浇灌河床绿地 150万平方米。“今年雨水较多，目前15个湖中都积蓄了雨水，收集雨水量达70万立方米。河床120万平方米的人工绿地都可以浇上水。”
The person responsible at the Fengtai District water department said that among the 15 rainwater collecting lakes, the biggest can collect 180 thousand cubic metres. “This year there was more rain, currently the 15 lakes all have water stored, there is up to 700 thousand cubic metres of water stored. 1.2 million square metres of man-made green space can be irrigated.”
“这些表面独立的雨水湖，其实它们之间都用地下输水管道相连通。这样可以解决每个湖之间雨水水量不等的问题，均匀调配浇灌绿地和草坪。”这位负责人说。
“These apparently independent rainwater lakes are in fact linked up by a series of underground water pipes. This waywe can resolve the problem of unequal water levels in the lakes and share the water out evenly through the lawns to be irrigated,” the person responsible said.
此外，雨水收集湖不但可以减少永定河水土流失，而且能缓解永定河汛期因雨量过大而导致的水位上涨，把西堤汇下来的水引到湖内有利于泄洪。
In addition, the rainwater collection ponds can not only reduce erosion along the Yongding River, but can alleviate the increase of water levels due to rainfall in the flood season, benefitting from the release of floodwaters by gathering them into the lakes of the west bank.
And no, I don’t really get that last ‘sentence’ (而且能缓解永定河汛期因雨量过大而导致的水位上涨，把西堤汇下来的水引到湖内有利于泄洪。) and so advice and corrections are most welcome. Really. I am doing this for language study, after all. But lzh says it’s ok, so….
Anyway, I first took this as a future tense article: Fengtai will build rainwater collection lakes. But then that second paragraph seems to me to be talking about rainwater already collected. If I’m wrong, tell me, of course. But whether it’s recent past, present or future, it’s good news. This city The entire northern and western halves of China, and a surprisingly large part of those southern areas thought to be water-rich are desperately short of water, and any thing done to alleviate that shortage is good. If it fails, it’s a chance to learn, so it’s still good (provided, of course, those responsible do the learning required), and rainwater collection has got to be a good idea. This is, after all, water brought up from the south and east collected here.
