AS RIVERS run dry and fields turn to dust, China has announced dramatic plans to cut water use by its industry and agriculture.
Water resources minister Chen Lei announced plans to by 2020. With China鈥檚 economy projected to grow by 60 per cent by that time, it effectively means the nation aims to cap consumption at today鈥檚 levels.
The statement follows China鈥檚 in half a century and increased water shortages caused by industrial pollution, which is making river water unfit for drinking even after treatment. Official statistics show the country鈥檚 urban supply systems and irrigation networks are falling short by 40 cubic kilometres of water a year.
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The move also suggests that the government has finally decided that it cannot rely on solutions like its $60-billion south-north water-transfer scheme, which will divert southern water to the arid north.
China鈥檚 biggest need is to reduce water used for growing food: its notoriously inefficient farms use two-thirds of the country鈥檚 water supplies. According to Junguo Liu of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, . Unless efficiency improves, he predicts that figure will rise by a quarter by 2020 as demand for meat grows 鈥� meat production needs more water than vegetables and cereals.