On April 8th, the startup ceremony of the joint research project “Weihe River Basin Water Environment Comprehensive Treatment” between the Netherlands and China co-sponsored by　 vice director of ISWC LIU Guobin and Prof. Coen RItsema from Wageningen University of the Netherlands was held at ISWC in Yangling. Prof. Prof. Coen RItsema and Dr. Violette Geissen from Wageningen University, as the representative of the Netherlands, and researcher LIU Guobin and researcher LI Rui and other concerning project personnel from ISWC attended the opening ceremony.

At the meeting, both parties conducted detailed exploration on the implementation plan of the project and determined the key topics for the project. Both parties also reached a general agreement on post graduates exchange, academic exchange and follow-up cooperation. At the meeting, experts from both sides also discussed the progress of the program “DEWSIRE” sponsored by researcher LI Rui and associate researcher WANG Fei from ISWC, which is also a part of the EU Framework Program.

Before and after the opening ceremony, accompanied by related staff from ISWC, Prof. Coen Ritsema and Dr. Violette Geissen has made field study about the soil erosion along Weihe River, water resource management and water conservancy construction in Guanzhong irrigation areas. They also visited the Rainfall Simulation Laboratory for Soil Erosion Processes and Water Conservation Exhibition Hall. At the invitation of the ISWC, they also made academic reports on water pollution and soil problems to the researchers and post graduates of ISWC. Prof. Coen Ritsema also showed that he would help the IWSC to organize the international academic conference on soil degradation and its prevention in this Oct. in Xi’an (LANDCON 1010).

This joint project is the topic of the Integrated Case Studies on Embanked and Local Systems of the Integrated Water Management subordinate to the Joint Stuudy Topic Programs (JSTP) co-financed by Chinese Academy of Science, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and other organizations. The project was approved by Chinese Academy of Science in 2009 as one of the key projects for international cooperation. The goal of the project is to conduct correlation analysis among various factors, such as the hydrological, topographical ecological, social and economical factors, establish exchange platform for related parties, and ultimately find out the comprehensive management systems for the water quality improvement, sand and silt management and disaster prevention along Weihe River basin.