Earth Week
March 27, 2009

Chinese officials may be forced to resettle some of Beijing’s new arrivals over the next 5 to 10 years due to a population boom that accompanied both a rapid economic expansion and a decade-long stretch of yearly droughts.

Probe International, an independent environmental advocacy group, advised Chinese officials that Beijing faces economic collapse as the capital begins to run out of water during that period.

The official Xinhua news agency reports that Beijing and the surrounding region have suffered drought every year since 1999.

To deal with the changing climate, the country is building a multibillion-dollar scheme known as the North-South Water Diversion Project.

Xinhua says that once completed, the project will divert one billion cubic yards of water to Beijing annually, mostly from the Yangtze River.