NE China Province to Curb Water ShortageNortheast China's Jilin province, plagued by serious drought, is set to build more projects to conserve water over the next five years.Continuous high temperatures and little rain in the province last year incurred a total loss of 9 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion), according to the provincial government. The government will divert water from the Songhua River, a major stream in northeast China, introduce more efficient water-saving methods, and build more reservoirs throughout the province. With a growing population and rapid economic development, China is facing a water shortage that threatens to bottleneck its urban development. The country will experience its most serious water shortage after 2010, experts with the Ministry of Water Resources warned. According to ministry statistics, China will need 698.8 billion cubic meters of water in 2010, while the water supply is only 667 billion cubic meters, leaving a gap of 31.8 billion cubic meters. |
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