This Day, That Year

Item from July 17, 1987, in China Daily: Beijing is facing a serious water shortage and needs an additional 1 billion cubic meters of water every year. By 1990, the capital will lack 270 million cu m of water for domestic use and 670 million cu m for industrial use.

Thanks to various diversion and conservation programs, Beijing’s water resources have risen from 100 cu m per capita in 2010 to 150 cu m last year.

The South-North Water Diversion Project, one of the world’s biggest, involves drawing water from southern rivers and supplying it to the north. Water sourced from the project is pumped to 11 million people in the capital, accounting for 73 percent of the city’s daily supply.

Beijing is supplied through the Central Route, which channels water nearly 1,300 kilometers from Danjiangkou Reservoir in Hubei province.

In addition, Beijing has also been building a modern system for efficient absorption of rainwater to ease shortages.

The capital has been renovating streets with permeable materials, constructing storage ponds, filtration pools and bioswale — a gully filled with drought-resistant plants — throughout parks and communities.

Beijing has released a regulation requiring water-consuming industries to meet usage quotas. Restaurants, hospitals, State enterprises, office buildings, carwashes and hotels and catering industries come under this regime.

Last year, the city consumed 3.9 billion cu m of water. This year, authorities have pledged to restrict consumption to less than 4 billion cu m.