A "sponge city" project is currently under construction in the Gui'an New Area, a national demonstration area in Guizhou province.

In June 2015, the Gui'an New Area was approved by the state to become one of the 16 pilot areas for China's sponge city initiative, which aims to make natural systems in urban area for mitigating rainwater runoff and replenish groundwater through the use of permeable surfaces and "green infrastructure".

The area firstly launched the construction over an area of 19.55 square kilometers. The final plan is to make all the entire 1,795-sq km area capable of absorbing and reusing rainwater in order to remedy urban flooding, save water resources and protect the local ecological system.

So far, 75 projects are underway to build roads, parks and water treatment facilities with permeable materials. The expected investment has reached about 6.9 billion yuan ($1.05 billion).

Meanwhile, the area has installed 70 monitoring devices to collect operational data from the sponge city facilities, including rainfall utilization, water levels and river system data. The information platform will manage and analyze the monitored data to predict potential environmental hazards.

Thanks to the permeable surfaces, the Gui'an New Area remained safe and sound throughout June, as torrential rains covered most of Guizhou province.

A permeable brick used for building the sponge city can absorb water on its surface. [Photo/gog.cn]