China, thirsty rivers

United Mail

Deep underground for hundreds of meters, the groundwater supply for more than two million people in the province is rapidly depleting (more than a meter each year). Urban water wells have exploited about 2/3 of the total groundwater in the region.

On the ground, people are happy because the achievements have been achieved in the North China Plain. Economic growth was 11% last year. Population is also increasing, housing demand is growing.'Many people buy houses, apartments, apartments without thinking whether in the future, this place has water or not,' Truong Trung Dan, who has been trying for 20 years to raise people's awareness of the real thing. state of clean water.

For three decades, water was a vital condition for economic development, helping China become a world power. And now, it is this economic growth that drives the country into a risk of water crisis. Water is polluted everywhere, the north facing drought is getting bigger and bigger, the demand for water is constantly increasing.

Commercial contracts cannot solve water problems. The amount of water used in China has increased five-fold since 1949, and the problem is difficult to give to Chinese leaders as the choice of urban and industrial development with a balance of supply country.

North China accounts for half of China's whole wheat production. But experts say rapid urbanization could affect the protection of aquifers, affecting the lives of millions of farmers and affecting international food prices.

With the Chinese government, the immediate challenge is to ensure the world's most vibrant economic growth with the maintenance and protection of clean water. Water pollution is so common that it becomes a "daily" affair . Urban and industrial waste makes people "unsuitable for contact" with water in many river sections.

Cities like Beijing and Tianjin have made progress in maintaining and protecting water resources, but China's economy continues to grow strongly. Industrial production in China uses 3 to 10 times more water (depending on the product) than developed countries.

"We have to focus on maintaining water," said Ma Quan, an environmental activist. "We don't have much more water, but we are under growing pressure."

The North China plain clearly needs water. An economic development area with more than 200 million people, rainfall has been limited and depends about 60% on groundwater supplies. Other countries such as Yemen, India, Mexico and the United States have underground aquifers that are currently being exploited, causing them to fall to low, dangerous levels. In the North China Delta, according to scientists, the water table may be exhausted within 30 years.

'There is no doubt' , said Richard Evans, an expert working in China for two decades advising the World Bank and the Ministry of Water Resources of China. 'The rate of decline is very clear, and even groundwater will no longer exist if the current rate continues.'

Thirsty area

Yangtze River, the section that runs through Hubei.
(Photo: VNN)

A century ago, the North American Plain was still "wet" . Well-digging farmers may encounter water spraying from more than two meters deep, rivers and streams meandering everywhere, swamps are very popular.

Today, the region is comparable to New Mexico, which has dried up. 5/6 dry swamps, the river naturally disappears. Some rivers used to have a lot of boats to travel now, almost dust and trash. The largest natural freshwater lake in northern China, the contaminated Aries Lake surrounds.

What happened? It is both a list, explosive pollution, climate change and economic growth. The policy of building concrete dams and reservoirs to cope with floods was done in the 60s. Floods were controlled but ecological balance was broken, dams started to prevent river flow from the side. east to the North China Plain.

New reservoirs eventually become the main source of water for developing cities. Farmers - the largest water user in the region, began to depend mostly on spray wells. Rainfall declines rapidly due to climate change.

In the past, farmers often cultivated about three seasons a year. But the groundwater level seems to be limitless and the government is constantly issuing policies to increase production so farmers start growing two crops a year, the winter crop often requires a lot of water. By the 1970s and especially as the economic reforms developed in a market-oriented manner, production soared, income in rural areas also increased, and as a result, the level of underground water decreased markedly, and the swamps, rivers and streams dry.

Increasing population leads to a large demand for water, and all urban areas are maximizing the exploitation of groundwater. The amount of water decreases by more than one meter per year. Many wells in the city sometimes have to drill more than 180 meters to see clean water. Groundwater quality also declines clearly. Wastewater, often untreated, is discharged directly into the river. Trinh, a country expert, said recent studies show that three-quarters of the groundwater system in the area is contaminated to varying degrees.

'There will be no steady development in the future without the supply of groundwater , ' said Liu Changming, an environmental expert who is also a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

It is estimated that about 41% of China's wastewater flows into the Yangtze River. Demand for water is growing in the north while water quality in the south is on the decline. Farmers do not have much choice, they continue to drill deeper into the ground looking for water.

Difficult choices

With so many people living in the North China Plain, the concept of water crisis does not seem to exist. No one has ever experienced a journey in the desert to try at all costs to find an oasis. And every year, the water level drops again. Nationwide, usage of groundwater has doubled since 1970 and now accounts for about one fifth of China's total use of water.

And the Chinese government understands the problems. A law against water pollution is being considered, which can dramatically increase penalties for violators. Coastal cities built urgently desalination plants. Multinational wastewater treatment companies are constantly hiring more people, buying more machines to solve the problem of wastewater.

In northern China, many pilot projects are seeking to reduce the amount of water lost from the winter wheat season. Even many cities have increased water prices to promote preservation and savings in water use.

There have been warnings that the rising demand for water in the North could make farmers unable to continue the winter crop, China may become the main customer of the world food market. Rising food prices impact inflation .

For farmers, not planting the winter crop is considered to be suicidal economically.'We will lose about 60-70% of income if we do not grow winter crops. Everyone here grows winter wheat ', said one resident.

Wang Yong Luc, an engineer at the Department of Water Resources Maintenance, who spent four decades to record the drop in groundwater levels in the North China made a comparison."In Israel, people consider water to be more important than life, but in many Chinese cities it is not so, people focus on economic development."