(January 17, 2011) As Beijing suffers through its decades-long drought—with no precipitation for the last ten weeks—officials think it wise to use water from nearby lakes to provide residents with what is becoming a novel experience: snowfall.
China counts £130bn cost of economic growth
(December 28, 2010) The Guardian’s Jonathan Watts writes that the cost of pollution, deteriorating soil and other impacts cost China 1.3 trillion yuan, or 3.9% of the country’s GDP, in 2008.
Diversion won’t end water crisis, report says
(August 16, 2010) Massive infrastructure projects are not a viable solution to China’s water crisis, writes Toh Han Shih in the South China Morning Post.
Beijing’s water crisis unabated, neighbours pay the price
(July 20, 2010) Toronto / Beijing: Beijing’s water crisis remains unabated says a new report tracking where water to China’s capital city is sourced from.
Danjiangkou Reservoir: A tale of two watersheds
(June 16, 2010) In the ultimate photo-op this week, Danjiangkou Mayor Zeng Wenhua, with press in tow, ladled a cup of water out of his city’s reservoir and drank it "without hesitation" to demonstrate its purity. The Danjiangkou Reservoir—on the Hanjiang River, a branch of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River—is slated to provide Beijing with water by 2014, once the central channel of the South-North Water Diversion scheme is completed.
Environmental group petitions Beijing government for stronger water regulations
(June 8, 2010) On Saturday, Friends of Nature (FON)—China’s oldest environmental organization—hosted a Conference for the release of their survey on public opinion regarding Beijing’s ongoing water crisis. As part of the conference, FON also issued a petition to the government, calling for urgent action from officials to help increase the city’s water-use efficiency and reduce pollution.
Beijing residents worry their city is running out of water, looking to government for action
(June 5, 2010) Three-quarters of those interviewed in a recent survey about Beijing’s water crisis say that they are concerned about the capital city’s water shortages and that they feel pollution and overexploitation of water are to blame. The survey, commissioned by Friends of Nature, China’s oldest environmental organization, was released in Beijing today, World Environment Day.
How will Beijing cope with the delay of China’s south-to-north water diversion project?
(April 12, 2010) According to the original plan, one billion cubic meters of water was to be taken from the Yangtze River every year and diverted to thirsty Beijing through the central canal of the massive South-North Water Diversion Project.
As economy booms, China faces major water shortage
(March 16, 2010) A decade ago, China’s leaders gave the go-ahead to a colossal plan to bring more than 8 trillion gallons of water a year from the rivers of central China to the country’s arid north. The project would have erected towering dams, built hundreds of miles of pipelines and tunnels, and created vast reservoirs with a price tag three times that of the giant Three Gorges Dam.
Oral History: The Xishan Dajue Temple’s Spring Runs Dry
Below is the tenth in a series of oral histories about Beijing water, as told to An He and Wang Jian by Guan Zhanxiu, a forestry specialist at the Xishan Dajue Temple (Great Awakening Temple, or Temple of Enlightenment) in Beijing’s Haidian district
Oral History: Remembering Miyun Reservoir
Below is the third in a series of Beijing water oral histories, as told to Wang Jian by 60-year-old Huang Deyu and 59-year-old Guo Shulian of Miyun County. Wang Jian is a Beijing-based water resources expert. Download the pdf here.
Oral History: Magic Water Village of Mentougou District
Below is the fifth in a series of oral histories about Beijing water, as told to Wang Jian and A.H. by 52-year-old Tan Julin of Lingshui Cun (Magic Water Village) in Mentougou District. Mentougou is 70 kilometres due west of downtown Beijing. Download the report here.
Oral History: Jiayukou Village on Great Rock River
Below is the fourth in a series of oral histories about Beijing water, as told to A.H. by 52-year-old Yue Jingxian, a surveying engineer with the Beijing Research Institute of Surveying and Design. Yue Jingxian was sent to Fangshan County for re-education in the early 1970s.
India and China depleting aquifers
(September 3, 2009) India and China may differ in their political structures—the former the world’s most populous democracy, the latter the most populace one-party state—but they share a ruinous use of ground water in which each is draining their aquifers faster than they can be replenished.
Water crisis in parched northern China
(August 4, 2009) The controversial North-South Water Diversion Project is putting more strain on local farmers already struggling from drought that has plagued parts of the country for much of the past decade. One local farmer, Li Yunxi, talks openly about his struggle for access to water.
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