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The other side of the water divide

By Alexis Hooi (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-12 07:43

From rain-making rockets fired high into the sky to drought-resistant seeds of wheat planted deep in parched cropland, some reprieve is already being offered to farmers in rural regions reeling from one of the worst dry spells in five decades.

But efforts to battle the drought in the country's major wheat-producing areas must extend to cities which share with their rural counterparts a resource that literally flows through porous boundaries.

More than half of the water used in northern and central regions such as Beijing, Hebei, Henan and Shanxi are tapped from aquifers alone, recent figures from the Ministry of Water Resources show.

While about 60 percent of the country's water resources are directed toward agricultural use, expanding cities and industry are vying for the same limited resource from farmers who feed the country.

Scorched farmland is being hit on multiple fronts, experts say. As cities get thirstier, limited water supplies for agricultural use are being threatened by rising levels of pollutants and waste from urban areas.

Meanwhile, about one-third of the more than 600 cities nationwide are said to be suffering from inadequate water supplies and more than 100 of these are regularly facing severe shortages.

China is said to have the world's fourth-largest freshwater reserve but its enormous population means its per capita water supply is just one-quarter of the world average.

The unequal distribution of water resources in the country also means that less than 600 million or half the population in the northern region have access to just 14 percent of supplies, figures from the United Nations show.

A deteriorating climate adds tremendous burden to treacherously depleting water reserves, calling for more concerted measures from the public and private sectors to plug the problem.

As the government pushes ahead with regulations that incentivize industries' prudent use of water in urban areas and deter those who choose to waste it, such acts must be complemented with greater investment in water-recycling and water-treatment technology to maximize water resources.

From state-of-the-art membrane filtration technology used in Beijing's Beixiaohe wastewater treatment plant to the $41 billion recently earmarked by the central government for county sewage facilities nationwide, advances in the sector are offering unprecedented opportunities for the country to build and invest in a firm foundation for its water infrastructure.

Similar moves should be in place to value the resource at the individual level.

Beijing authorities to that effect are said to be considering by this year an increase in water prices, which stand at rates that are half of those in many other countries. In the first few months of last year, water production and sewage facilities even experienced continued losses despite government support, while a number of cities have not increased their water prices in a decade.

As a World Bank report last month highlighted, the price of water in the country must reflect its limited supply as well as help ensure that basic water services are provided.

Campaigns that encourage residents in cities to consciously adopt water-saving measures and equipment should also expand - because any solution to the country's water woes must involve efforts from the ground, rural and urban.

E-mail: alexishooi@chinadaily.com.cn