Official: Pearl River Area Threatened by Water Shortage – Xinhua

From Xinhua:

A severe water shortage in the drainage area of China’s third longest river was predicted by an official with the Ministry of Water Resources here on Monday.

By 2010, the gross yearly water consumption in the Pearl River area would reach 100.5 billion cubic meters, leaving a huge supply gap of 13.5 billion cubic meters, said Li Hailiang, deputy director of the Pearl River Water Resources Committee’s water resources section.

Li even predicted the shortage would worsen to about 26.8 billion cubic meters by 2020 and said the problem was already one of the most serious obstacles to the development of the area. [Full Text]