
More water shortages for China?
Re: PFTF Feb 17 2012
More water shortages for China?
BEIJING, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- China faces worsening water shortages, a government official warned.
The country's water shortages, along with serious river pollution and a deteriorating aquatic ecosystem, pose a growing threat to economic and social development, Hu Siyi, China's vice minister of water resources said Thursday, state-run news agency Xinhua reports.
China's population of 1.3 billion people consumes more than 600 billion cubic meters of water a year, equal to about three-quarters of its exploitable water resources, Hu said.
"The constraints of our available water resources become more apparent day by day."
New guidelines released Thursday by the State Council -- China's Cabinet -- cap the maximum volume of water use at 700 billion cubic meters by 2030.
Other measures include stricter government supervision of underground water supplies, greater protection of drinking water sources and the introduction of water-use licenses and other steps aimed at restoring the aquatic ecosystem.
Read more:
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy ... z1mdLTrpa5
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In loving memory of my son Chris April 12 1985-June 19 2007
I don’t think it’s a matter of “is it coming.” I think that it’s already here, it’s just a matter of perspective. From one perspective, our frog friends are telling us that we should be grateful that the “spa” is hot and luxurious. From the cook’s perspective… another 10 minutes and we’ll be dinner.