This Day, That Year: May 13

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On May 13, 1954, Guanting Reservoir was completed to deliver water to Beijing.

Situated in the capital's northwestern area, the reservoir was the first to be built after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Because of the country's rapid economic development, water levels decreased and degraded dramatically in the 1980s.

An item from Jan 17, 1990, in China Daily told about a water pumping station under construction to divert water from the Miyun Reservoir in eastern Beijing to the Guanting Reservoir, which was running out of water.

By 1997, Guanting's water was no longer safe for domestic use.

In the mid-1990s, more than 80 percent of Beijing's waterways－30 rivers totaling 500 kilometers and 26 lakes covering 600 hectares－were seriously contaminated by pollutants from households, factories or construction sites, according to the Beijing Municipal Water Conservancy Bureau.

Since then, the capital government has taken a series of measures to restore and conserve its waterways. Hundreds of factories have been closed in Beijing and nearby Hebei province.

Thanks to the efforts to improve water quality in Guanting Reservoir, it became a backup water resource for Beijing in 2007, before the 2008 Olympics.

Although the environment has improved, Beijing has been facing a serious water shortage. It is among the thirstiest areas of the country, with water availability per capita at 150 cubic meters in 2016, a fraction of the international standard of 1,700 cu m per capita. The number was 100 cu m in 2010.