Related readings:  Water diversion helps ease Beijing thirst Beijing faces long term water shortage Recycled water to play bigger role City water shortage top problem

The answers can be diverse, from wider roads to a solution to ease traffic congestion, from more blue sky days to housing projects for the middle class who are grumbling about skyrocketing real estate prices, just to name a few.

But if you ask someone in the neighboring province of Hebei, the answer is likely to be water.

The growing water shortage has prompted the Chinese capital to lay out a plan starting from this spring that would have farmers from 200 villages along the Chao River in Luanping and Fengning county in Chengde and Chicheng county in Zhangjiakou plant corn instead of rice on 100,000 mu (6,666 hectares) of land.

Growing corn uses much less water than growing rice, and the plan aims to use the water saved to ease Beijing's thirst.

Beijing Municipal Commission of Development & Reform official Liu Jinghsun said the move is expected to provide over 100 million tons of water to the capital.

According to Liu, the project is aimed at purifying the Chaohe River, a major resource for irrigating rice and for the Miyun and Guanting Reservoirs, two substantial sources of drinking water for the capital's thousands of residents.

"The project is based on the fact that one mu of rice will use 1,200 cubic meters of water, lowering the water levels in the two reservoirs," Liu said, adding the use of fertilizer and pesticide spoils the quality of the reservoir water for Beijing.

The Beijing municipal government has promised to compensate 450 yuan (US$58) per mu of rice, according to the website report.

The amount of compensation fees is a sensitive topic for farmers.

Villagers Zhao Junfu and Yao Fengru said they could accept the project if the compensation was sufficient.

They said one mu of rice can generate a profit of 1,360 yuan (US$175), but one mu of corn can only yield a profit of 840 yuan (US$108), a 38 per cent loss per mu. They said they had to think about their future.

Villagers face potentially huge losses because of the project, a bitter pill that may be difficult to swallow.

Residents here have relied on growing rice for generations. The overall losses will hit 4.2 million yuan for the entire village if there is a 600-yuan loss per mu.

The controversial move has left many unsatisfied.

"Beijing is making other provinces sacrifice for it," a netizen wrote on Hebei.com.cn.

"The 450 yuan in compensation fee is not enough," another wrote.

"It is sensible to relieve the capital's water shortage. But the municipal government officials must provide better compensation for the farmers affected," a Hebei resident told Chinadaily.com.cn.

Water has become a major headache for the municipality, which will present China to the outside world in 2008.

China created the mammoth South-to-North Water Diversion Project in 2002, aiming to relieve severe water shortages in arid northern areas. Beijing is a major beneficiary.

Water demand has outpaced water supply in Beijing. Annual water demand is 4.5 billion cubic meters a year while supply is, on an average year, about 4.2 billion cubic meters. The current annual deficit is 0.3 billion cubic meters, the University of British Columbia Center for Human Settlements revealed.

The water shortage is an issue that ranks alongside rampant pollution as a major concern in China.

According to a Xinhua report, Beijing is to invest 12.46 billion yuan (US$1.59 billion) between 2006 and 2010 to curb worsening water pollution.