The discovery of 46 illegal wells dug by Chinese migrants in the far western region of Xinjiang has intensified tension with Uyghur residents and disrupted the ecological balance of the region, people with knowledge of the situation told Radio Free Asia.
Fighting over water resources has been a source of friction for years between native Uyghurs and Chinese settlers in areas under the control of the state-run Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, or XPCC, called Bingtuan in Chinese.
Authorities investigated after residents in Korla, or Kuerle in Chinese, the second-largest city in Xinjiang, complained about the proliferation of wells on the outskirts of the city, a source in Xinjiang said, asking not to be identified for security reasons.
The wells, dug to grow cotton and vegetables, have drained vital underground reserves, he said.
As a result, authorities discovered 46 illegally drilled holes this year alone in Korla, a policeman in Bayingholin prefecture’s Public Security Bureau who had participated in this case in its early phase told Radio Free Asia.
The residents accused of drilling the holes without a permit are from the 29th Battalion of the Bingtuan’s 2nd Division and Chinese settlers living in an economic development region on the outskirts of Korla, the officer said.
“We have been working on water management, water control, and identifying water wells since February, and we continue to work on those issues,” the police officer said.
Little accountability
But legal authorities have slowed down reviewing the cases, and the suspects were released after brief questioning, the Uyghur source said, with officials using “stability” and “unity” as excuses to let them go.
Authorities could not hold all perpetrators accountable because the activities likely involved Han Chinese, he said.
The Bingtuan is a state-run economic and paramilitary organization of mostly Han Chinese who develop the land, secure borders and maintain stability in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or XUAR, where about 12 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs live.
Made up of 14 divisions, the Bingtuan is one of the foremost institutions of Han dominance and marginalization of Uyghurs and other indigenous ethnic groups in the region, according to the Uyghur Human Rights Project.
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The well-drilling began in 2012 when demand for cotton surged, the Uyghur source told RFA.
Those who stole the water conducted their activities at night using advanced technology to pump it from a depth of 200 meters, or about 660 feet, he said.
“Since they drill these wells in a forested area, a place that people hardly go, it was hard to discover their illegal activities,” the Uyghur source said.
It costs about 150,000 yuan (US$20,600) to drill a well and make it operational, he said, an amount that Uyghurs would not likely be able to come up with.
Though the issue has sparked friction many times before, the government has protected the Han Chinese residents, he said.
The policeman initially said there were some Uyghurs among those held responsible, but when pressed for further information, he said most of those who drilled the illegal wells were Chinese who had settled in the area, including Bingtuan workers.
Staff at relevant government organization in Korla contacted by RFA declined to answer questions, but did not deny that Chinese settlers there had stolen water.
Drying up the land
The growing dependence on groundwater in the Korla area since the 1990s has reached a level that is disrupting the ecological balance, said the source familiar with the situation.
“We must control this or it will lead to a further decline in groundwater levels,” he said. “In some areas of our protective forests, the Euphrates poplars are withering and drying up.”
Peyzulla Zeydin, an ecological devastation researcher from Korla who now lives in the United States, told RFA that the misuse of water resources, including underground water, has severely impacted the region’s protective forests over time.
“In the 1990s, when we dug water wells, we could find water at just 10 meters,” he said. “Now, even at 30 meters, we can’t find water.”
“It’s getting worse because the underground water recycling system has been disrupted,” Zeydin said. “One of the main causes of the declining water levels is the growing population and the over-expansion of farmland. This has interrupted the natural underground water replenishment cycle.”
Zeydin said research indicates that the Bingtuan’s 1st Division battalions in the Korla area have overused and controlled the water resources there, leading to the drying up of Euphrates poplar trees along the lower streams of the Tarim River.
“The water level is dropping every day, and it has now reached a depth of 100 meters [330 feet],” he said.
Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.