During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China's water authorities have systematically planned and advanced the development of digital twin systems in water conservancy sector, which encompasses digital twin river basins, digital twin water networks, and digital twin water conservancy projects.

Zhang Xiangwei, director general of the Department of Planning and Programming of the Ministry of Water Resources, made the remarks at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office in Beijing on Monday. He said such systems have effectively empowered applications such as flood control in river basins, as well as water resources management and allocation.

In advancing the development of the systems, priority has been given to monitoring and sensing, mathematical model development, and practical applications, Zhang said.

In terms of monitoring and sensing, since 2021, the water authorities have stepped up efforts on building a "sky-space-ground-water-infrastructure" collaborative monitoring and sensing system, significantly enhancing the capacity for comprehensive perception of water conservancy physical entities, and providing dynamic, real-time information support for the monitoring and prevention of safety risks in water resources projects as well as for the development and operation of digital twin systems in the water conservancy sector.

Progress has also been made in mathematical modeling. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, efforts have been focused on enabling precise mapping, virtual-real interaction, and the capacities to forecast, conduct early warning, simulate scenarios, and plan for contingencies within the digital twin systems in the water conservancy sector. Meanwhile, a "high-fidelity" mathematical modeling system for digital flow field simulation has been developed at an accelerated pace to provide decision-making support for flood and drought disaster prevention as well as the unified and coordinated operation of water infrastructure across river basins.

In addition, China's water authorities has been promoting the development of multi-level digital twin platforms that support comprehensive applications. At present, the lead time for flood forecasting in major rivers nationwide has been extended from three to 10 days, and monitoring and early warning have been put in place for 268 ecological flow control sections across key rivers and lakes, according to Zhang.