The Water Conservancy Science and Technology Work Conference was held in Beijing on March 30. Li Guoying, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of Water Resources, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Zu Leiming, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Minister of Water Resources, presided over the conference.

At the meeting, the 2025 Dayu Water Conservancy Science and Technology Awards were presented, and plaques were awarded to the first batch of Technology Innovation Centers of the Ministry of Water Resources.

The project titled “Hydraulic Design Theory, Equipment Development, and Promotion and Application of High-Performance Low-Head Pumps for the South-to-North Water Diversion Project,” completed by Zhang Desheng, Shi Weidong, Guan Xingfan and others from Jiangsu University, won the First Prize of the Dayu Water Conservancy Science and Technology Award. This marks the first time Jiangsu University has received the first prize of the award, representing a historic breakthrough for the university. Prof. Zhang Desheng attended the conference as a representative of the award-winning team and received the award.

The award-winning project focuses on major national strategic projects such as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project and the Yangtze-to-Huaihe Water Diversion Project. Over more than two decades, three generations of researchers in fluid engineering have carried out sustained theoretical and technological research.

The team proposed efficient and stable hydraulic design theories and methods for large-flow, low-head pumps, developed a series of internationally leading large-scale pump equipment systems, and built a digital twin dispatching platform based on multi-source data fusion.

These achievements have enabled the efficient, stable, safe and intelligent operation of low-head pump station clusters across river basins. The project has also established a full-chain engineering technology system covering theory, design, manufacturing and major engineering applications.

The results have been successfully applied in the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the Yangtze-to-Huaihe Water Diversion Project, large irrigation areas and pump station renovation projects across China, as well as key water conservancy projects in countries along the Belt and Road. They have played a significant role in optimizing China’s water resources allocation, supporting farmland irrigation, enhancing flood control and drainage, and improving the water environment.

The Dayu Water Conservancy Science and Technology Award is one of the most authoritative and influential science and technology awards in China’s water conservancy sector.

In 2025, a total of 80 awards were granted, including:

·1 Special Prize

·11 First Prizes

·32 Second Prizes

·34 Third Prizes

·2 Innovation Team Awards

Among all recipients, only three universities — Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University and Jiangsu University — led projects that won first prizes. This achievement marks a new milestone in Jiangsu University’s scientific and technological innovation in the national water conservancy, drainage and irrigation sector. It also provides strong support for the university’s efforts to pursue its “Double First-Class” initiative and build itself into a high-level university with distinctive strengths.