Author: Jonathan Watts in Beijing
Publication: Guardian.co.uk
Date: March 1, 2008
URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/01/olympicgames2008.china1
Millions of gallons of water are being diverted
to Beijing from areas hit by drought
When seven white swans made a home on the
Chaobai river in north-east Beijing last year, it was hailed as an Olympic
success story. Until a few years ago, the waterway was so exploited that the
bed was cracked dry.
Now the river has been refilled and the wildlife
brought back, ready for rowing events in August. For Beijing, it was a showcase
of how the "green" games can improve the environment. But four months
on green activists are asking whether this and other cosmetic clean-ups are
depriving arid regions of water during a particularly severe drought.
Thanks to a huge diversion, the Shunyi Olympic
rowing park project has turned a dry river and its banks into a lush resort
with a water surface of 63 hectares (155 acres) and a green area of 53 hectares.
It is not the only hydro-engineering facelift. Beijing is diverting millions
of gallons of water to ensure this dry and dusty city looks its best during
the Olympics. Workers are rushing to complete a huge canal that will channel
water from the Yangtze and other rivers in southern China to the parched but
densely populated north.
Reservoirs around Beijing are being tapped
to flush out the foul, polluted waterways in the centre of the city and to
fill the fountains and keep the grass green in the Olympic park. Meteorologists
are even firing silver iodine crystals into the clouds to induce rain.
This work means other needy areas going dry.
Last year, farmers in neighbouring Hebei were told to grow corn or wheat instead
of water-intensive rice. Tens of thousands of people have been relocated for
a 192-mile section of the water diversion project, which will open in April,
redirecting 300m cubic metres of water from Hebei to the capital. In any year
this would be a sacrifice. Hebei has one of China's lowest levels of per-capita
water resources. But this year's drought is severe. This week the Hebei Daily
said levels of winter rain and snow were 60% below the long-term average,
leaving many reservoirs at very low levels. "The severe drought has created
tense conditions for water supplies in our province, and the conflict between
water supply and demand has been dramatically exacerbated," it noted.
Like many other Olympic projects, the water
diversion was being planned anyway. Beijing needs more water because it has
more flush toilets, more ornamental lakes, more building sites and more people.
The population - soon expected to hit 18 million - has more than quadrupled
since the 1960s.
But the Olympics is an excuse to accelerate
development. The games are such a national priority that few dare risk being
accused of lacking patriotism. Tensions are apparent. Earlier this week, a
senior official in Shaanxi province - which is also being tapped for Beijing
- warned of social, economic and environmental disaster because of strains
on water resources. "In order to preserve the quality of Beijing's water
we have to close all our factories. But we still need to live. So I say the
government needs to compensate Shaanxi," An Qiyuan, chairman of the Chinese
people's political consultative committee for Shaanxi, told the Financial
Times.
Activists accuse Beijing of sacrificing its
neighbours. "Using drinking water from Hebei and other poor provinces
to provide for luxuries in Beijing is wrong," said Dai Qing, a leading
environmental activist. "Beijing will ensure the city has enough clean
water in August, but it will only be temporary. In the longer term, the water
crisis will worsen."
She said the rowing park at Chaobai was the
worst example of waste because it required filling a dry river, greening parched
earth and building one of the world's biggest fountains. "This was a
dry river. Why do they have to use this area for competition?" said Dai.
The water's origins are mysterious. The government
insists the river is being filled from the Wenyu, a smaller Beijing waterway
used for effluent, but Dai says the volume is insufficient and the quality
too low. She suspects the Chaobai is being filled from already depleted groundwater
supplies and reservoirs.
It is difficult to assess. Despite reports
that the Olympics will push up water consumption by 30%, the Beijing city
water bureau insists supplies diverted from Hebei and Shaanxi are for normal
use, urban development and the increase in population. "We never said
we need extra water for the Olympics," said the bureau's propaganda director,
Yu Yaping. "We don't know if the total volume of water will increase
this year. In fact we are trying to promote measures to save water."
Such is the sensitivity that even the scale
of the drought is hard to confirm. "We can't give you any statistics.
Our reservoir is too important to Beijing and to the Olympics. We can't tell
you the trend," said an official of Miyun reservoir, who declined to
give his name.
But the director of the rowing park, Zhang
Xiangdong, insisted his project was a success. "This was dry seven years
ago. From last year, 40m cubic metres of water is flowing into the Chaobai
every year. We now have more than 100 kinds of trees that produce 50,000 tonnes
of oxygen, which is good for the air. Last autumn, we had our first swans.
Can you imagine how excited we felt? And by August, the Chaobai will be full."
