Water Resources Minister Wang Shucheng talks to Shi Jiangtao and Josephine Ma about the mainland's plan to ration a dwindling resource
The mainland's growing water shortages will become so severe that rationing will become one of authorities' main strategies for dealing with a crisis expected to last for more than 20 years.
Inevitably, the growing crisis will require an urgent response from authorities, who are planning to spend billions of yuan every year on reservoirs and water diversion projects and repairing the damaged environment. According to Minister of Water Resources Wang Shucheng , the key strategy is conservation, with rationing providing a powerful incentive to reduce consumption.
'Infrastructure projects alone would not be able to address the worsening water shortages,' he said. 'China's population will peak in 2030 to hit nearly 1.6 billion, and available water resources per capita will drop to 1,700 cubic metres, which is lower than the international safety level of 1,800 cubic metres.'
Water resources per capita in the country stood at about 2,200 cubic metres - less than a third of the world average - and will drop considerably over the next two decades, Mr Wang said.
While the authorities have pumped billions of yuan into various schemes - from diversion to desalination - Mr Wang said a rationing system for every province, factory and household would be a more effective solution. He likened water rationing to land reform in the 1950s: 'Rationing water should continue to be done in the same way as land reform.'