To provide stable water sources, improve soil and water environment, and serve social development, "small" reservoirs moisten "big" people's livelihood. According to the Ministry of Water Resources, the 2023 small reservoir reinforcement project has been fully implemented, and the completion rate of the initial project funded by the central government has exceeded 80 percent.

Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, 7,535 small reservoirs have been strengthened nationwide. Up to now, China has built more than 97,000 reservoirs of various types, including 92,000 small ones. Some of these reservoirs are plagued by problems such as low construction standards, poor engineering quality, inadequate operation and maintenance, and prominent hidden dangers, which restrict the full play of their benefits.

Small reservoirs are prone to regulatory "blind spots", The Ministry of Water Resources has formulated and issued institutional documents such as the Opinions on Improving the Strengthening and Operation Management and Protection Mechanism of Small Reservoirs, Measures for the Management of Strengthening Projects of Small Reservoirs with Risks, Technical Requirements for the Preliminary Design of Strengthening Projects of Small Reservoirs, Measures for the Accountability of Strengthening Work of Reservoirs, and Measures for the Supervision and Inspection of the Safe Operation of Small Reservoirs. Clear provisions have been made on standardizing the preliminary work of reservoir reinforcement, strengthening construction management, strengthening supervision and inspection, and implementing rectification and upgrading. We will urge and guide all localities to establish a responsibility system for strengthening reservoirs in which the province assumes overall responsibility and the cities and counties take full responsibility. We will form a project implementation and management system in which water administration departments at all levels work together to overcome difficulties, so as to consolidate local management responsibilities, strictly manage the process, and promote project implementation with high standards and high quality.