Brady Yauch
Probe International
March 30, 2010

The severe drought plaguing southwest China has not only left millions of people without adequate water supply, it has also dramatically reduced power production in the region.

Output from dams in Yunnan province is reported to have fallen by as much as 70 percent. In Guizhou province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, electricity output is in dire straits—with reports claiming generation has fallen by 90 percent.

Officials with the China Southern Power Grid, which controls power for five provinces and autonomous regions in Southwest China, say ensuring supply represents an “arduous task”.

Since last autumn, Southwest China has received almost no rain. So far, more than 50-million Chinese citizens have been affected by the drought—with as many as 16-million people and 11-million livestock currently facing water shortages.

Economically, the impact of the drought continues to grow. The State Disaster Relief Commission says that the drought has already incurred 19.02-billion yuan ($2.79-billion) in direct economic losses.

And the situation could get much worse if the drought doesn’t begin to ease. According to the drought- and flood-control department of Yunnan Province, water storage at local reservoirs is current at 5-billion cubic meters—and it expects 90 percent of this water to be used between February and May. If the region doesn’t experience any rainfall during that time, a large proportion of Yunnan residents will lack drinking water.

While the severity of the drought itself is undisputed, some critics say poor policy and development decisions in recent years have made the situation much worse. Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, says massive deforestation and the pollution and depletion of water sources have exacerbated the drought.

A report in China Daily supported Mr. Ma’s position, adding that an increase in the cultivation of thirsty rubber and eucalyptus trees has brought harm.

“Instead of conserving underground water,” the report said, “these trees absorb [underground water], negatively impacting the local ecology.” The coverage of rubber trees has exceeded 200,000 hectares, while the coverage of eucalyptus trees has increased to more than 1 million hectares in Yunnan province alone.

The report claims rubber and eucalyptus trees “have undoubtedly contributed to an ecological imbalance.”

“The number of foggy days in Xishuangbanna, a subtropical area in Yunnan, has decreased by 60 days annually in the past two decades—indicative of a drop in moisture in the air—because of the expansion of rubber trees.”

Further Reading:

• Drought poses a risk to reservoir and people
• Local residents say Three Gorges dam aggravating drought