The Bailong Weir in the Songgu irrigation area. [Photo/lsnews.com.cn]

The ancient Songgu Irrigation Scheme – located in Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province – was recently included in the 2022 World Heritage Irrigation Structure list.

The honor was conferred by the New Delhi-based International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, the ICID, on Oct 6 during the 24th International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage and the 73rd International Executive Council meeting, held in the city of Adelaide, Australia.

Established in 1950, the ICID is an international organization aimed at boosting scientific and technological exchanges on irrigation, drainage and flood control. The world heritage irrigation structure designation – established by the body in 2014 – aims to protect and promote irrigation projects of historical value and their scientific experience.

The Songgu Irrigation Scheme is widely said to be an excellent model of ancient irrigation works for small and medium-sized river basins.

For hundreds of years, the ancestors of the Songgu irrigation area have documented its building mechanism and unique irrigation management system in the form of lists, inscriptions and anthologies.

With its dense network of weirs, dikes, ditches and channels and drawing water from a local stream, the irrigation system was perfected during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) and now has an irrigation area of about 11,000 hectares.

The success of the Songgu Irrigation Scheme has made Lishui the only city in the country to have two world heritage irrigation structures, with the first being the Tongjiyan Irrigation System which was listed in 2014.