Beijing Taps May Dry Up In 5 Years

                 Apart from drought conditions, pollution, which
                 contaminates drinking water, is another problem

                 By MARY KWANG
                       CHINA CORRESPONDENT

                 BEIJING -- The Chinese capital could run out of water
                 in five years if northern China's drought conditions
                 persist.

                 In particular, industry and agriculture face the prospect
                 of dry taps in three years if nothing is done.

                 According to the local media, the Water Resources
                 Ministry and Beijing officials convened experts from all
                 over the country earlier this week to discuss the city's
                 water shortage problem and to draft contingency plans.

                 Northern China, including Beijing, has suffered from
                 water shortages for years.

                 Last year, Beijing residents were forced to draw on the
                 city's water reserves, the first time they have done so in
                 10 years.

                 A spokesman for the Beijing Water Conservancy
                 Bureau said that apart from inadequate rainfall, another
                 problem was pollution, which contaminates drinking
                 water.

                 He said that half of the rivers and groundwater around
                 the city as well as Guanting Reservoir, one of 16
                 reservoirs in Beijing, were polluted.

                 The bureau added that each year, Beijing residents use
                 up around 800 million cu m of water. Forecasts are that
                 in five years, the city would be short of 800 million to
                 1.6 billion cu m of water. In 10 years, the shortage
                 would grow to 1.2 billion to 2 billion cu m a year.

                 Beijing is unlikely to have new water sources in the next
                 few years until a national plan to divert water from the
                 south to the north takes off.

                 The only measures available to the city are a save-water
                 campaign and cleaning up polluted waterways and
                 reservoirs, said a spokesman. The bureau's contingency
                 plans include maintaining water reserves of 1.1 billion cu
                 m. If there is no improvement in the situation in the next
                 two to three years, the city would have to reduce or
                 even cut off water supply to industry and agriculture.

                 The severe water shortage has led to other problems.

                 Excessive use of groundwater has caused the city to sink
                 in several areas. According to the Beijing Survey and
                 Design Research Institute, the eastern suburbs have sunk
                 by more than 70 cm in the past 40 years, while the
                 south-western part of the city had dipped by 33 cm in
                 more than a decade.

                 Such depressions could lead to cracks in the ground.

                 Northern China is home to a third of the country's
                 population but has only 7.5 per cent of its water
                 resources.

                      Adapted from The Straits Times, 8 Jan 2000.