North China’s Hebei Province, the major water supplier to Beijing, is facing a serious water shortage due to overexploitation and drought, says Li Qinglin, head of the Heibei Water Resources Department. Experts estimate that in five to ten years, the water shortage may cause a major population decrease and economic instability in Beijing.
Li quoted statistics in saying that the province’s water resources level is only half compared to the 1950s. Yet lowering water reservoirs in the province support 28 million people in the Beijing and Tianjing areas with high water consumption.
The continuous drought in North China since 1999 has aggravated the situation. In 2008, the total water consumption lowered to 3.51 billion cubic meters with 0.6 billion cubic meters’ reclaimed water, compared to the 4.04 billion total consumption of 100% natural water in 2000.
“Water shortage is a major threat to the social and economic stability in Hebei,” Li said, adding that Hebei consumes 15 billion cubic meters of ground water each year to support its total consumption of 21 billion cubic meters. The exploitation of groundwater has caused subsidence in over 40,000 square km, he said.
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