(December 22, 2009) Beijing authorities said the water price for residential use will go up 8 percent, an increase that follows a jump of almost 50 percent in the price of water for nonresidential use last month, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Prominent city lakes fail water safety test
(November 16, 2009) Three lakes in Beijing were seriously polluted in October, the Beijing municipal water resources bureau website said on Nov 12.
Beijing to spend US$22 mln to plant water-source forests
(July 29, 2009) Beijing has started to plant water-source forests in its neighboring Hebei Province to protect two of the city’s largest reservoirs, official said Wednesday.
Thirsty Beijing awash in water woes
(December 22, 2008) This capital’s growing thirst for clean water is clashing with provincial demands and concerns that plans to tap China’s rivers will hurt an already troubled environment.
Beijing hikes water price to ease shortage
(December 22, 2009) Beijing will raise water price by 8 percent starting Tuesday to encourage saving in the Chinese capital, local authorities said Monday.
Reluctant support for staggered rise
(December 18, 2009) Most public representatives at a hearing on water costs yesterday said they supported an increase in the cost of tap water for next year because they had “no alternative”.
Beijing water price hikes ‘forced on public’
(December 17, 2009) The government’s decision to raise water prices drew criticism from local residents who voluntarily attended the public hearing on Wednesday.
Charge pool owners more, NGO says
(December 17, 2009) Beijing can save at least 190 million cu m water per year – double the capacity of Guanting Reservoir – if the extravagant lifestyle of its residents can be controlled, a leading NGO said after the water price hearing yesterday.
China: A blast from the past
(December 14, 2009) “Unfortunately we live in a system where our unelected leaders push ahead with mad dreams rather than take responsibility after bringing disasters to the ordinary people,” says Dai Qing, a conservationist who has spent time in China’s most notorious political prison for her criticism of government-led environmental destruction. “But perhaps if the leaders really believe their slogans and really decide it’s time to live in harmony with nature, then this will be the last mad mega-project we see in China.”
Water prices to rise from next year
(November 9, 2009) The price of tap water in Beijing will increase from Jan 1, the Beijing water resources bureau said.
Rainwater collection projects gather 24.5 million cubic meters of rainwater in Beijing
(August 17, 2009) One rainfall may create a new “Kunming Lake” in Beijing. Although rainfall for 2009 has been relatively less than that of prior years, rainwater collection projects across urban and rural areas have been playing a big role.
Beijing uses reclaimed water to replenish rivers and lakes
(July 23, 2009) Amid the heat wave, clean rivers and lakes such as the Kunyu River and Forbidden City Moat have brought some cool to the city of Beijing. Residents perhaps do not realize that the clean water in those rivers mostly came from recycled water.
Beijing Water Crisis: 1949 – 2008 Olympics
(June 26, 2006) Beijing’s policy of draining surrounding regions to ease water shortages in the ancient capital is akin to "quenching thirst by drinking poison," according to a new report by Probe International’s Beijing-based researchers. To keep water flowing to Beijing’s "green" Olympics this August, the water-strapped city is pumping water from four newly-built reservoirs in nearby Hebei province, depriving poor farmers of water for their crops.
Report predicts dire economic effects of Beijing water crisis
(June 28, 2008) Beijing’s water crisis is so critical that the city is facing economic collapse and the need to resettle part of its population in coming decades, a leading development policy group said yesterday.
Province supplying Beijing water drying up: state
(March 24, 2009) A province in north China that supplies Beijing with much needed water is itself facing serious shortages of the resource, state media reported ahead of World Water Day on Sunday. Probe International, a leading development policy group, has warned that the city of Beijing faces economic collapse and will need to resettle part of its population in coming decades, as it could run out of water in five to 10 years.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
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