(October 21, 2011) China’s officials have admitted that the nation’s water supplies are dangerously polluted, and pledged to spend four trillion yuan on water conservation projects over the next decade. But money isn’t the problem; despite hundreds of billions of yuan already spent, pollution is only getting worse.
(March 28, 2011) A new study warns that plans to raise the Danjiangkou Dam could lead to earthquakes of greater than 4.0 on the Richter Scale. Experts say the dam triggered an earthquake of M 4.7 in 1973.
(March 25, 2011) Chinese geologist and environmentalist Fan Xiao has sent a letter to high ranking Chinese officials, urging them not to destroy the rare fish conservation zone they’ve created on the Yangtze. Plans are in the works to build the Xiaonanhai dam within the conservation zone, which would be the second time the Government redrew the zone to accommodate dams. Building the dam would violate the government’s own environmental protection rules, and would put over 100 rare species of fish at risk. He calls for public hearings and an administrative review, in hopes of convincing officials to abandon the plan.
(February 21, 2011) South China Morning Post reports on the Chinese government’s first national water plan. Probe International executive director Patricia Adams tells the Post why the plan will fall short.
(February 9, 2011) Han Ziyu at China Dialogue reports that the Chinese Government is downscaling a reserve for rare fish. Below is an excerpt, and link to the full article at China Dialogue.
(January 11, 2011) Wang Jian, who studies Beijing’s water consumption for the NGO Green SOS, estimated that city could save 190 million cubic meters of water annually if residents used it less extravagantly. That figure is double the capacity of the Guanting Reservoir.
(December 30, 2010) While China faces grave water shortages, researchers at institutions across the country are working on new water- saving and desalination technologies that they hope can alleviate the crisis in the crucial years to come.
(November 30, 2010) Twelve ski resorts have been operating in Beijing as of 2006, guzzling 640,000 cubic meters of water annually, according to the Beijing Water Authority, a government agency for water conservancy and flood control.
(September 21, 2010) Beijing is likely to suffer from a 12th consecutive year of drought, according to local authorities and experts who warned of water shortages and called for improved water conservation.
(September 1, 2010) Water needs in the North have forced hundreds of thousands out of their homes as dams expand, but an innovative desalinization solution could spare them, writes Jenara Nerenberg in Fast Company.
(August 29, 2010) Residents living in glittering new condos in Beijing enjoy the luxuries of swimming pools, while villagers in neighboring Hubei Province are relocated to make way for the massive $62 billion South-North Water Transfer Project.
(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.
(August 13, 2010) Beijing car washers are driving China’s water-strapped capital to a dry end faster, says Lisa Peryman.
(July 31, 2010) Officials in Beijing are once again looking to neighbouring provinces for help in dealing with the capital city’s worsening water crisis, writes the Epoch Times.
(June 17, 2010) Danjiangkou Reservoir can provide a model for China’s environment protection efforts.
Patricia Adams
Brady Yauch
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Lisa Peryman
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