In the effort to protect groundwater resources, Inner Mongolia is rolling out another new initiative. On the 28th, the Energy Administration of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region convened a field meeting on the comprehensive utilization of mine water, bringing together energy departments from six leagues and cities as well as 21 large coal mining enterprises, and urged all mines to turn off their “water taps” tightly.

The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, with a total area of 1.183 million square kilometers, is a major coal-producing province in China. In 2024, Inner Mongolia produced 1.29 billion tons of coal, accounting for 27.3% of the nation's total raw coal output. Both its coal supply capacity and coal shipments to other regions ranked first in the country.

At the beginning of this year, the People's Government of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued the "Implementation Plan for Water Conservation Actions in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region," setting a target that by 2025, the comprehensive utilization rate of mine water in Inner Mongolia will reach over 60%, with the Yellow River Basin achieving a rate of over 70%.

At the on-site conference on the comprehensive utilization of mine water held that day, the Inner Mongolia Energy Administration reported on the progress of local projects for the protection and comprehensive utilization of mine water, and outlined the schedule and plans for the construction of mine-water comprehensive utilization projects by 2025.

It is understood that, as of now, 10 of the coal mine water comprehensive utilization projects planned for implementation in Inner Mongolia by 2025 have already commenced construction, while the remaining projects are being carried out according to the scheduled timeline. Once all these projects are completed and put into operation, they are expected to reduce annual mine water discharge by over 10 million cubic meters and increase the annual utilization of mine water by approximately 7 million cubic meters.