Nanjing's Xuanwu Lake could soon be the nation's first national water conservancy scenic area, as the city recently submitted an official application to the Ministry of Water Resources.

If successful, authorities hope to build an exhibition center aimed at informing the public about water conservation. The center will feature a Wumiao Sluice, a sluice still in use in China and a National Key Cultural Relic Protected Unit with a history of 600 years. Another key feature of the center will be a scene recreation of water conservancy in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Statues promoting water conservancy will be installed along the lakeside road to enhance the educational and historical atmosphere in the scenic area.

Another important construction to take place is a dredging project, which will increase Xuanwu Lake's storage capacity from 5.5 million cubic meters to 7 million cubic meters and improve water quality.

To coincide with the dredging project, new wetland areas will be created and aquatic vegetation will be introduced.

A site evaluation of the lake was conducted on July 17 and 18 by experts from the Ministry of Water Resources to check the lake's qualifications. Once the application is fully approved, Xuanwu Lake will be "upgraded" in a number of ways.