Effective measures urged to save water

Without effective water-saving measures, China is likely to face a severe crisis following consecutive years of drought, officials and experts warned.

"Building a water-saving society is the best strategy for China to tackle the problem," Suo Lisheng, vice-minister of water resources said during a forum yesterday in Beijing.

"Now, Beijing is facing the most severe situation concerning the water supply since 1949, the founding of New China," Suo said, indicating traditional water-saving measures no longer match today's demands.

Instead of simply using administrative means as in the past, Suo and many experts hoped water conservation could be promoted through economic measures.

Options include overall planning of water use, pay for water systems, new water pricing to limit water consumption quotas for different regions, sectors and purposes.

Meanwhile, water recycling, pollution control and water-efficient technology for industries and farming must be further improved to make full use of the existing water supply.

The ministry has introduced pilot projects in Zhangye, in Northwest China's Gansu Province, Mianyang in Southwest China's Sichuan Province and Dalian, in Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

China has a serious water shortage.

National water per capita is less than 2,200 cubic metres or only a quarter of the world average. The figure is only 990 cubic metres or half of the national average in North China's drought-prone areas.

The number will hit a record low of 1,750 cubic metres in 2030 as the population peaks at an estimated 1.6 billion people, experts at the seminar said.

The country's total water consumption will reach 700 to 800 billion cubic metres by 2030, approaching the nation's total available water.

"By then, China may be plunged into a water crisis with such a situation and its capacity of exploiting further water supply would become much more difficult than today," Suo said.

In a regular year, national water shortages amount to about 40 billion cubic metres with 75 per cent of them needed to irrigate farmland, experts said.

Drought has, since 1991, affected more than 27 million hectares of farmland per year or more than one-fifth of China's total. The result has been a reduction in grain output of more than 28 billion kilograms.

Today, among 660 Chinese cities, more than 400 are short of water, and the situation is even worse in more than 100 cities including Beijing and Tianjin.

More than 230 billion yuan (US$27 billion) worth of industrial output is lost every year throughout China due to water shortages.

China consumed an average of 465 cubic meters of water for each 10,000 yuan (US$1,204) of gross domestic product (GDP) it achieved last year, about four times the world average level, according to the latest figures from water resources authorities.

Source: China Daily