(May 11, 2009) In our report, Beijing’s Water Crisis: 1949 – 2008 Olympics, Probe International argued that the city’s worsening water shortage would not be solved by building more dams and diversion canals. But rather, the city should implement laws and regulations to limit polluting and water-profligate projects and ensure that consumers and businesses pay the full cost for water. Now, water authorities have announced a hike in water prices. Read the news coverage here.
Beijing to build, expand 13 water plants by 2014: city official
(April 29, 2009) Beijing plans to build and expand 13 facilities by 2014 to process water from the Yangtze River, with combined capacity of about 1 billion cubic meters annually, an official with the city government said Wednesday.
Beijing’s water supplier faces serious water shortage
(March 21, 2009) North China’s Hebei Province, the major water supplier to Beijing, has overexploited its groundwater which caused subsidence and formed "20 hopper areas" of more than 40,000 square km, said a local water conservancy official on Saturday.
Acknowledgements
We wish to give special thanks to Patricia Adams for her rigorous editorial assistance, and her unflagging enthusiasm for the book. Special thanks also to Lawrence Solomon, for his patience and guidance throughout preparation of the book, for his expert help with writing and editing, and for his humour when driving a point home.
With increasing water needs, will China dehydrate India?
(March 10, 2009) China—and not Pakistan—is a bigger threat to India simply because it does not have enough water.
Drought plagues China’s crops
(March 1, 2009) Northern China is dry at the best of times. But a long rainless stretch has underscored the urgency of water problems in a region that grows three-fifths of China’s crops and houses more than two-fifths of its people – but gets only one fifth as much rain as the rest of the country.
Water service resumes in Chinese city after acid pollutes river
(February 23, 2009) Water service resumed Monday after more than 1 million people in the eastern Chinese city of Yancheng went without tap water for three days when a river was polluted with a toxic chemical. The owner and manager of the Biaoxin Chemical Co were arrested after an unknown amount of carbolic acid was released into the Mangshe River, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Beijing’s water supply unaffected by 100-day drought
(February 9, 2009) Beijing’s water supply has been unaffected by the drought that has hit central and eastern parts of China, according to the Beijing Water Bureau. Ample rainfall last summer and the diversion of water from surrounding regions has kept the city’s reservoir levels high despite the latest 100-day dry spell.
China’s giant water scheme opens torrent of discontent
(February 27, 2009) China’s vast scheme to channel southern rivers to its parched north faces potentially explosive defiance at a dam where bitter memories and an unsure future are driving farmers to protest the nation-spanning feat.
China delays part of massive water project
(January 12, 2009) China is delaying part of its plan to divert water from its major rivers across hundreds of (miles) kilometers to the booming cities in its arid north because it needs more time to resettle the more than 300,000 people who will be displaced by the project.
China to raise water prices?
(January 12, 2009) The World Bank urged China on Monday to raise water prices to encourage people to use less water and to promote efficiency in a bid to prevent a ‘severe water scarcity crisis.’
Yangtze River water to supply water-scarce Beijing in 2014
(January 13, 2009) The Yangtze River in South China is expected to provide 1 billion cubic meters of water every year to Beijing starting 2014, according to the municipal water authority.
China to speed up building gigantic south-to-north water diversion project in 2009
(December 16, 2008) China would accelerate the construction on the country’s huge south-to-north water diversion project next year, head of the project office Zhang Jiyao said on Monday.
China postpones Yangtze water diversion scheme
(December 11, 2008) China has postponed completion of its multi-billion dollar water transfer scheme to bring water from the Yangtze river to Beijing, citing water pollution and other environmental risks as the reason for pushing the completion date back four years, official media reported last week.
Failing water scheme leaves Beijing high and dry
(December 9, 2008) The completion date for an engineering mega-project to bring water from a tributary of the River Yangtze in the wet south of China to the capital city, in the arid north, has been postponed again.
Probe International 