Xinqiao River

Overview

The Xinqiao River is a lake-bound river of the southern hilly country of Lishui District, Nanjing, and belongs to the Shijiu Lake system (Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources, 15 May 2024). The district government's geographical position page lists the Xinqiao River among the main inflow rivers of the Shijiu Lake system and gives its length as 26.28 km. The Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources records that the Xinqiao River rises at Laoyaba Reservoir and flows into Shijiu Lake, about 31.4 km in all, with a basin of 314.6 sq km. The Dongping Subdistrict environmental report records that the Xinqiao River rises at Laoyaba Reservoir, runs across Baima and Jingqiao towns, reaches the north of Kongzhen and discharges into Shijiu Lake by Changtang village, 26.28 km in all.

Two figures for the length: 26.28 km (district government geographical position page; Dongping Subdistrict environmental report) and about 31.4 km (Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources, 15 May 2024). This entry's length takes 26.28 km.

Two figures for the basin: the Eleventh Five-Year water plan gives a catchment of 204.36 sq km; the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources gives a basin of 314.6 sq km. The two are on different statistical footings and are shown side by side.

The name of the source reservoir is written with two different characters for ya in the Dongping Subdistrict environmental report and in the provincial department's account, both referring to the same reservoir; this entry uses Laoyaba Reservoir and records the variant under Open questions.

The towns are Baima, Jingqiao and Hefeng: the Dongping Subdistrict environmental report describes the river as running across Baima and Jingqiao and reaching the north of Kongzhen, Kongzhen being a former administrative unit now part of Hefeng Town, where the Kongzhen community sits; the 2018 annual implementation scheme for water pollution prevention records the assessment unit for the Qunying Bridge cross-section on the Xinqiao River as Hefeng and Jingqiao towns.

The Measures for the Management and Protection of Water Conservancy Works in Lishui District writes the river as the Xinqiao River including the Baima River; the Baima River is a part of the Xinqiao River, not a river alongside it.

Formation and change

The Xinqiao River is one of the district's seven main watercourses (Measures for the Management and Protection of Water Conservancy Works in Lishui District, Lu Zheng Gui [2022] No. 2).

Improvement and tasks: the district government's key work for 2023 includes building the Tianshengqiao and Xinqiao rivers as two demonstration happy rivers and lakes, and carrying out the renewal and water-saving improvement of the Xinqiao River irrigation district (Lu Zheng Ban Fa [2023] No. 3, annual task targets; no acceptance or annual summary source has been found, so this site does not write that they have been completed).

Water supply and transfer: the clear-water channel works began at the end of 2014, took two years and passed completion acceptance in December 2016, with a transfer route 28 km long; the works take Shijiu Lake as their source and lift water from the Xinqiao River at Qiuhu Pumping Station, delivering it along the Qiuhu main canal to Xishanxia (Lishui District Water Affairs Bureau, 22 October 2025). A proposed diversion route would draw Yangtze water at the Qinhuai New River pumping station and pass it along the Qinhuai New River, the main Qinhuai channel, the Lishui River, the Yigan River, the Tianshengqiao River and the Putang River into the Xinqiao River, with a storage works on the Xinqiao River, a route about 85 km long (Lishui District Water Affairs Bureau, 25 July 2023, a reserve project).

Drought replenishment: in 2022 a dam was built at the mouth of the Xinqiao River and ten pumping units were installed to lift water into it; from 2022 to the date of the reply about 36 million cubic metres had been lifted into the Xinqiao River (Lishui District Water Affairs Bureau, 25 July 2023).

No first-tier source has been found for when the Xinqiao River was cut or for its final alignment, so nothing is written here.

Landscape and visiting

Ecological corridor: the pre-approval public notice of the Territorial Spatial Ecological Protection and Restoration Plan of Lishui District (2021-2035) lists the Xinqiao River among the waterway corridors of its multiple-corridor pattern (pre-approval notice, July 2026, not an instrument in force).

Water quality cross-section: Qunying Bridge on the Xinqiao River is a provincial-level assessment cross-section (Lishui Ecological Environment Bureau, published on the district government website in January 2022). The table gives the name and level of the cross-section only, not a water quality class.

Results of the works: after the improvement works on the Xinqiao River, including the lower reach of the Yunhe River, the capacity for flood defence and drainage was raised, directly protecting a population of 50,000 and 76,000 mu of farmland (Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources, 15 May 2024). The figures of 50,000 people and 76,000 mu are the benefit of the works, not the total population and farmland of the Xinqiao River basin.

No first-tier source has been found for footpaths, waterside platforms, viewing facilities or opening information along the Xinqiao River, so no visiting detail is given; readers who need it should go to the official notices of the district water department, the district culture and tourism department and the local towns. Information is current to September 2026.

Open questions

• Two figures for the length: 26.28 km (district government geographical position page and Dongping Subdistrict environmental report, the value used here) and about 31.4 km (Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources, 15 May 2024). Both are shown and neither is chosen.
• Two figures for the basin: a catchment of 204.36 sq km (Eleventh Five-Year water plan) and a basin of 314.6 sq km (Jiangsu Provincial Department of Water Resources). The statistical footings differ and neither may stand in for the other.
• Whether the provincial figure includes the Yunhe River is not stated: the 31.4 km and 314.6 sq km come from the provincial department's entry on the Xinqiao River, while the wording including the lower reach of the Yunhe River appears only in the name of the improvement works, and it is not inferred that the length includes the whole Yunhe River.
• Two spellings of the source: Laoyaba Reservoir in the Dongping Subdistrict environmental report and Laoyaba Reservoir, written with a different character, in the provincial department's account refer to the same reservoir; this entry uses Laoyaba Reservoir.
• The wording including the Baima River is that of the Measures for the Management and Protection of Water Conservancy Works; the Baima River is a part of the Xinqiao River, not a river alongside it.
• The assessment towns are a division of work: the assessment unit for the Qunying Bridge cross-section is Hefeng and Jingqiao towns (2018 annual implementation scheme for water pollution prevention), a division of work for cross-section assessment rather than a complete list of the towns along the Xinqiao River.
• The Xinqiao River irrigation district shares the river's name, but the extent of an irrigation district and the basin of a river are not the same concept and are not used interchangeably.
• The benefit figures: 50,000 people and 76,000 mu are the benefit recorded for the improvement works on the Xinqiao River, including the lower reach of the Yunhe River, not the total population and farmland of the basin.