Groundwater depletion compounds China’s water scarcity
Continued population growth and urbanization are causing problems throughout China. Analysts say groundwater depletion is one of them. Unrestrained water extraction is compounding water scarcity as demand grows.
The nation is experiencing “a massive water crisis,” according to CNN.
Tackling the issue will require “political will and creative policy thinking,” as well as a wide range of water technologies, according to Asit K Biswas and Kris Hartley, writing for the Asia & The Pacific Policy Society.
In 2013, China had 21 percent of the world’s population, but only 6 percent of the world’s total water resources.
Northern China has one of the greatest levels of groundwater depletion, according to a 2015 NASA study. The population-dense region is placing unsustainable pressure on groundwater supplies in the North China Aquifer by withdrawing water for industrial and agricultural use, as well as for daily household consumption.
It’s easier to pump water out of the ground than to find other water sources. An estimated 11 percent of the nation relies on this water source, which also supplies water for 70 percent of China’s coal production and 13 percent of its agricultural production. A large amount of the water used in agriculture is wasted: Approximately 173 billion cubic meters of water consumed in China per year — 24 percent of water it uses for agriculture — is used to produce food that ultimately isn’t eaten.
Widespread Water Shortages
In 2016, an estimated 400 Chinese cities faced a water shortage, according to Liu Changming, a retired hydrologist for the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Liu advises the government on water policy. Another 110 cities were in severe water shortage. All of these cities were in northern China.
As Biswas and Hartley write:
In China, significant efforts have been made to address water shortages in scarcity-prone regions, including pipeline transfers, desalination, and stronger urban design standards. Nevertheless, depletion of groundwater continues and the impacts are dire, both for individual users and for urban health and safety in general.
Additionally, changing weather patterns and saltwater intrusion are causing water levels and quality to fluctuate.
Water Pollution
Pollution is also a problem. An estimated 80 percent of China’s groundwater is contaminated by toxic metals and other pollutants.
Desalination could be a solution for protecting groundwater; however, municipalities have not embraced it as a viable option despite chronic shortages in major cities, particularly Beijing, that are placing the nation’s economy in peril, according to CNN.
Many approaches are being tried to rein in pollution and to find alternative water sources, but critics contend water conservation needs to be an immediate priority over desalination or wastewater reuse. Pessimists contend that it’s too late now to try to craft legislation or mandates that could make a significant difference.
Eleven years ago, Wang Shucheng, China’s former minister of water resources, forecast that with current rates of water extraction, many cities in northern China — including Beijing — would run out of water in 15 years.
Biswas and Hartley concluded:
Addressing the groundwater depletion problem — and in broader measure the growing crisis of water scarcity amidst rapid urbanisation — will require a multi-pronged approach that includes unequivocal political will, transparency regarding the impacts and costs of depletion, creative policy initiatives to manage demand, and support for technical innovations to improve efficiency in usage. Both China’s economic and environmental sustainability are at stake.
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