(December 20, 2009) Due to 11 consecutive years of drought, Beijing has become a city of severe water shortage.
Oral History: The Vanishing Haidian
People of our age can’t avoid talking about water when Haidian is mentioned. I was born in 1949, the year New China was born. Since I was young, I’ve lived in the area near Yiheyuan (SummerPalace) and Dayouzhuang (Abundance Village). Between 1958 and 1968, I was at school there and I remember it was like a solitary boat in a marsh— with the Western Hills, the sunsets and water everywhere. It was absolutely beautiful.
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.
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, the new green worry
(December 6, 2009) China’s woes on water have highlighted a another threat for business to solve.
Beijing announces water price hike
(December 2, 2009) The hike in Beijing’s water price aims to encourage conservation and recycling in a bid to ease water shortages in the city. By subsidizing low-income residents, officials say the price hike will not impose an excessive financial burden on ordinary people.
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.
A shortage of capital flows
(October 9, 2008) Probe International‘s latest report is cited in an Economist article that describes how officials planned to divert water from Hebei province to Beijing for use during the Olympics, but instead waited until September 18th to begin the transfer.
Beijing citizens invited to express opinions about city’s water prices
(August 7, 2009) In an unusual move, Beijing’s Office of Legislative Affairs has invited the capital city’s residents to comment on a proposed fee schedule for "renewable" water or recycled water.
Beijing’s water drying up
(March 22, 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.
Beijing’s water crisis
(March 15, 2007) In the short-term, the drought which lasted for most of the winter had surprisingly few effects on the lives of Beijingers bar a few newspaper headlines.
Beijing’s Water Binge
(June 27, 2008) Apparently Beijing is consuming water at the rate Marie Antoinette consumed petit fours and there is always a price to pay for such gluttony. Many news organizations (see, e.g., here and here) reported today on a new study, published by Probe International and written by a Chinese environmentalist, entitled “Beijing’s Water Crisis: 1949-2008 Olympics” which reads like a Temperance Union pamphlet.
Going thirsty so Beijing can drink
(October 9, 2008) The water level at Wangkuai Reservoir, one of the biggest in Hebei province, is close to an historic high—in a region gripped by drought. This has been achieved by hoarding the water. Local farmers say they have received none for two years.
Peak water? The limits of a resource
(May 29, 2009) Wise management and sustainable development of the world’s water resources is a task that has been postponed too long. Much of the world is in crisis and parts of the United States are rapidly approaching that point. Water-poor regions can no longer expect to put off addressing the problem by pumping ever greater amounts of relict groundwater from shrinking aquifers. Geoscientists should play a leading role in designing innovative solutions such as aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) where seasonally-surplus water supplies are banked in porous underground formations for later use.
China’s ambitious water diversion project way beyond budget
(June 9, 2009) After some seven years in progress, China’s South-to-North Water Transfer Project has burst its planned budget by tens of billions of yuan and run into delay.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
Other News Sources
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