Over 400,000 suffer from water shortage in China

[Metallic]

15 AUGUST 2009

LIAONING: Hundreds of thousands in China's northeast Liaoning Province face shortages of drinking water because of a severe drought, a local news channel reported on Saturday.

Continuous drought parched at least 43 small-sized reservoirs, drying up crops and cutting the water supply of up to 120,000 livestock across the province, state media said.

Around 420,000 people are struggling to get access to drinking water, with more than 12,000 residential wells depleted. The insufficient water supply has forced many residents to sell livestock to reduce water consumption, state media said.

About 52 percent of total farmland was affected by the drought, a local news agency reported.

The local government has disbursed more than 100 million yuan (14.2 million USD) for the catastrophe, the state television said.

In China, about 30 million people in the countryside and more than 20million in urban areas face drinking water shortages every year despite huge government investment to address the problem.


Source: GEO News

 

[Spring Onion]

The water problem is going to hit the world very badly specially our region.

 

[DesiGuy]

15 AUGUST 2009

LIAONING: Hundreds of thousands in China's northeast Liaoning Province face shortages of drinking water because of a severe drought, a local news channel reported on Saturday.

Continuous drought parched at least 43 small-sized reservoirs, drying up crops and cutting the water supply of up to 120,000 livestock across the province, state media said.

Around 420,000 people are struggling to get access to drinking water, with more than 12,000 residential wells depleted. The insufficient water supply has forced many residents to sell livestock to reduce water consumption, state media said.

About 52 percent of total farmland was affected by the drought, a local news agency reported.

The local government has disbursed more than 100 million yuan (14.2 million USD) for the catastrophe, the state television said.

In China, about 30 million people in the countryside and more than 20million in urban areas face drinking water shortages every year despite huge government investment to address the problem.


Source: GEO News

let's keep spending money on military stuff, and i am sure military technology will help us to get water.


WE knows for sure about the problems we all will be facing in the next 10 or 15 years, BUT still we give nothing damm about it.

 

[Thomas]

china's water problems are not just shortages. But they have a severe problem with pollution in many of their rivers and reservoirs. They have little to no pollution enforcement.

 

[SinoIndusFriendship]

china's water problems are not just shortages. But they have a severe problem with pollution in many of their rivers and reservoirs. They have little to no pollution enforcement.

Rivers being polluted is accurate. However, many reservoirs are dedicated for civilian use and farm use. Also they use aquifers (which is drying up).

However, they are improving by building dams and massive water diversion projects. Their situation is not as dire a many outsiders claim, I never experienced any lack of water. but pollution is a problem no doubt.

 

[applesauce]

well alot of the north uses underground water which is drying up thus the government is building some kinda pipeline to link up many parts of the country to bring water in where its needed from where its available

 

[Thomas]

Rivers being polluted is accurate. However, many reservoirs are dedicated for civilian use and farm use. Also they use aquifers (which is drying up).

However, they are improving by building dams and massive water diversion projects. Their situation is not as dire a many outsiders claim, I never experienced any lack of water. but pollution is a problem no doubt.

Water Availability

* China ranks fourth in the world in terms of total water resources, but is second lowest in terms of per capita water resource availability.

* Nearly half of China’s 640 major cities face water shortages; 100 face severe shortages.

* By the year 2000, the annual shortage is expected to reach 29 billion cubic meters. Shortages will peak in 2020 when shortages of 50 billion cubic meters are expected.

* Some regions have far less water than the national average – Northern China has only one-fifth the per capita water resources of southern China and just 10% of the world average.

* Aggravating the problem is low efficiency – the current end-use efficiency of fresh water is estimated at around 10%.

* Nearly 80% of China’s water is used for agriculture, but almost half of this total either evaporates or leaks.

* Unable to use surface water in much of the country, groundwater is being depleted at a staggering rate. For example, in Shanghai and Beijing, groundwater levels have been dropping several feet per year.

Water Pollution

* All of China’s water bodies are polluted to various degrees of severity. Serious pollution has been documented in the country’s seven major watersheds: Huai, Hai, Liao, Songhua, Chang (Yangtze), Zhu (Pearl) and Huang (Yellow).

* Sources of water pollution include, not only traditional pollutants (excreta) but also modern toxic pollutants – this is peculiar to rapidly industrializing developing countries. Both municipal and industrial wastewater is inadequately treated – only 5% of household waste and 17% of industrial waste received any treatment as of 1996, according to the UNDP and Chinese authorities.

Health Impacts of Water Pollution

* Half of China’s population (nearly 700 million people) consumes drinking water contaminated with animal and human waste that exceeds the applicable maximum permissible levels, and while there has been an overall decline in mortality from infectious diseases, diarrheal diseases and viral hepatitis, both associated with fecal pollution of water, are the leading infectious diseases in China.

* Liver and stomach cancers in China are caused in part by water pollution. China has the highest liver and stomach cancer death rates in the world. Liver and stomach cancers are 3-7 times higher in polluted rural areas of China (such as Shanxi province or the Shenfu irrigation area near Shenyang in Liaoning Province) compared to cleaner areas.

* Recent scientific reports reveal that rates of liver cancer and birth defects are 4 to 8 times higher in districts using polluted water than in cleaner regions.

The Environment and China Water and Air Pollution:Water and Health | World Resources Institute

 

[gambit]

What...??? There is no blaming the US for this...???