Water Pollution in China

Abstract

In China that is experiencing such rapid urbanization and economic development, however, clean water is becoming more and more scarce. Aquifer levels are dropping, lakes are disappearing, rivers are drying up or becoming polluted, and air contaminants are producing acid rain. Water shortages plague over half of China’s cities.Today, water is one of China’s the most crucial issues.

Reason

China’s current water crisis is driven by two primary factors. The first of these is China’s uneven distribution of water. Because of its large and diverse geography, China has a wide spectrum of terrains and climate zones. While southern and eastern China enjoy abundant rainfall, the northern and western regions of the country receive very little. This weather pattern can lead to unfortunate and seemingly contradictory effects, with some provinces battling floods while others are suffering from months-long droughts. Between mid-April and the end of May 2006, southern and northeastern China endured three brutal rainstorms, bringing rainfall of 400 millimeters (15.7 inches) or more per day. This resulted in regional flooding, destruction of vast crop fields and thousands of homes, 60 to 70 human deaths, and economic losses of nearly $1.6 billion. At the same time, however, northern China was experiencing a severe drought that affected or threatened 182 million hectares (450 million acres) of farmland, 8.7 million livestock, and 95 million people.Beijing, the nation’s capital in northern China, was suffering its worst drought in 50 years. It received only 17 millimeters (0.7 inches) of rain in four months—a fraction of a day’s rainfall in southern China.

Extremes in this climate pattern have led to problems for China. Although the floods in April and May 2006 were damaging to the cities and communities of southern China, they were not nearly as disastrous as others in China’s recent history. For example, one flood in 1998 caused the Yangtze River—China’s largest—to overflow, killing more than 3,500 people, damaging or destroying more than 21 million houses, and causing economic losses of $32 billion.Another flood in 1954 was even worse, taking 30,000 lives.To address the common flooding of the south, China has recently built the Three Gorges Dam, an ambitious and controversial project meant to monitor and control the Yangtze’s water levels to prevent future floods.

Besides the disparity in water supply between the north and south, China’s water crisis has a second factor: pollution. Even in water-rich areas of China, pollution is decreasing the supply of clean, usable water. According to estimates, a full 70 percent of China’s rivers and lakes are currently contaminated, half of China’s cities have groundwater that is significantly polluted, and one-third of China’s landmass is affected by acid rain. Today, most of the Yellow River is unfit even for swimming, and experts have called the Yangtze “cancerous.” Because hundreds of cities—including large ones like Shanghai and Chongqing—rely on these rivers for their drinking water, people all over the country are suffering from China’s water pollution crisis. The central government has begun to fight the pollution problem by issuing stricter regulations on pollutants and spending billions of dollars on water projects, but water quality is generally still poor. In 2006, Chongqing’s tap water contained 80 of 101 banned pollutants.

Effects

In terms of health, China’s water crisis has had serious consequences. About 300 million people in China—a quarter of its population (or a number equivalent to the entire U.S. population)—drink contaminated water every day. Almost two-thirds of these people—190 million—fall ill. Children are suffering, too, with more than 30,000 dying each year from diarrhea caused by contaminated water. In addition, China’s water has been blamed for the recent high rates of various health abnormalities like cancer, stunted growth, low IQs, miscarriages, and birth defects.

Efforts

China is now completing its largest, most ambitious dam ever, the Three Gorges Dam. It will create a reservoir extending 600km (375 miles) behind the dam, raising the water level of the Yangtze, and submerging farmland, houses, temples, factories, towns, and entire cities—not to mention some of China’s most famous scenery. In exchange, the Three Gorges Dam is intended to prevent flood disasters downstream, potentially saving tens of thousands of lives. In addition, generators in the dam will transform the power of the river’s water into electricity, providing much-needed energy to keep China’s economy thriving. China claims the dam will generate the electricity of 15 power plants—enough to pay for half of the project’s cost—and will reduce the country’s annual coal usage by 50 million metric tons, therefore diminishing a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

To complete the project, the government has reported spending upwards of $25 billion (though the project’s real cost is widely believed to be much higher) and has forced more than 1.3 million people to relocate, sometimes with little or no compensation.In areas like Wanxian Prefecture, the new reservoir will submerge rich farmland, and relocated farmers will be forced to farm on higher, less fertile ground.⁶² Furthermore, critics say the slowed river water will allow pollution to gather and contribute to the spread of disease. The government denies these claims and says that water quality will actually improve.

China is also undertaking another massive water project called the South-North water diversion, where China intends to engineer three new waterways to carry water from China’s wet south to its dry north. This project began in 2002 and is projected to cost $60 billion (though it is already over budget). More than 200,000 people will be relocated.⁶⁴ The relocations are likely to encourage people to destroy forests for new land, therefore accelerating soil erosion. Still, perhaps the water diversion is necessary. As one Chinese scientist said, “Without water in northern China, people can’t survive. And the economic development that has been going on cannot continue.” Projects like the South-North water diversion and the Three Gorges Dam have both costs and benefits. The important question is how to weigh their potential economic, social, and environmental effects against each other.