Aksu in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is making efforts to optimize the use of water resources by building a world-class reservoir project, which aims to reduce droughts and floods and reduce their influence on local economic development and people's livelihoods, as well as generate power.

Located at the junction of Wensu and Wushi counties of Aksu, the Dashixia water reservoir project started construction in December 2017, and is expected to test its water-holding function in October 2025 and finish all construction around October 2026.

"This area has a very harsh climate and complicated geological conditions, posing great challenges to our work," said Huang Jin, vice-general manager of Xinjiang Gezhouba Dashixia Reservoir Development Co — the company in charge of construction.

He said that the project requires high-quality construction because of the height of the dam, with its highest point designed to reach 247 meters, in addition to its high flow rate of floodwater release and higher-level resistance to earthquakes.

To better monitor the quality of construction work and collect construction data, the company channeled around 30 million yuan ($4.1 million) to build a smart monitoring system in late 2021.

"The application of the system can not only help us save human resources, but reduce the risk of human errors. We can monitor the construction work during the whole process," said Li Jiandong, the company's director of technology management department.

"For example, we can trace the whole process of dam material from the original mining, transportation and its placement through the system." He added that the system is in trial operation so far, and will be put into service around October to December.

Seeing the project in smooth operation, the 45-year-old Xu Shumei, a senior technician from the company, feels her efforts and contributions are rewarded.

"I've worked in Xinjiang since 1999 after finishing my education in Chongqing, my hometown. And I started to work for the project around four years ago," she said.

She is responsible for quality control, laboratory management and energy saving and emission reduction for the project.

"I've never regretted serving in this industry, and it may be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get involved in such a world-class project. But I owe a lot to my daughter and parents who need my care because of my work," she said.