2010-03-29 09:34

Wider grim picture

Yao ethnic minority residents in the mountainous Nengwai village in Guangxi have to travel more than one hour to fetch water on horseback from a river seven kilometers away.

In Guangxi, the drought has affected 476,050 hectares of crops and left 2.2 million people with drinking water shortages.

Many reservoirs have dried up, with huge cracks appearing on their beds. The dry weather has forced the closure of more than half of the hydroelectric power stations in Hechi City.

In Sichuan, the drought is worsened by higher than normal temperatures since mid-March. The temperature in Sichuan Basin is seven to 10 degrees Celsius higher than average levels. In Panzhihua city in Sichuan, there has been no rainfall for almost half a year and so it is even a luxury to take a bath or wash dishes. Some villagers haven't taken a bath for two months.

In mountainous Guizhou, more than 3 million residents are short of food.

The once famous and powerful Huangguoshu waterfall has now become more like a stream. The waterfall is at least the smallest size since it was opened to public gaze in the 1980s, said Wang Daoxiang, deputy general manager of Huangguoshu Tourism Group Co.

In Anshun city, where the waterfall is located, more than 90 percent of rivers and reservoirs have dried up.

The drought, already the worst in 60 years, will continue to worsen as Guizhou expects no substantial rainfall in the coming month, according to local weather forecasts.

National concern

The severe drought in the southwest has grabbed media headlines and increasingly become a major national concern. It has left tens of millions of residents with water shortages and caused direct economic losses of 19 billion yuan ($2.8 billion).

Premier Wen Jiabao paid a three-day trip to Yunnan this month to direct relief efforts.

Wen said priority should be given to drinking water supplies and preparations for spring farming. He urged local authorities to prepare for the worst as the drought "is likely to continue".

The world marked the 18th Water Day on March 22, as lack of water has become a global issue, with the United Nations estimating that by 2025, two-thirds of the planet's population will live with water shortages.

China in particular faces severe shortages in its goal for more sustainable economic and social development. Its per capita freshwater resources were only 2,200 cubic meters, about a quarter of the world average.

Of China's 600 cities, more than 400 suffer chronic water shortages, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

Chen Lei, minister of Water Resources, told Xinhua that China would step up water conservation and environment protection and put in place strict management on water resources to tackle the increasingly acute shortages.

Chen added that China has a huge population but limited water resources that were unequally distributed among geographical regions and four seasons.

For the northwestern province of Gansu, drought is routine. In its Huining county, residents are storing up water for possible supply cut-offs.

The county was hit by widespread tap water supply disruption from late April to early May last year.

"We used to see drought in nine of 10 years, but now there is likely a drought every year," said Zhang Xu, government head of Liujiazhai township in Huining. The county received 120 mm of rainfall in 2008 and 90 mm in 2009. "We won't be able to plant spring crops should there be no rain," said Chen Peng, a villager in Liujiazhai.

Xinhua