The water supply is again the crucial question for the Beijing Olympics. From Reuters:
The north Chinese province of Hebei, which will supply arid Beijing with much of its water for the summer Olympics, is suffering severe drought, with half a million residents likely to face hardships with drinking water…
With Beijing’s water demand during the Olympics expected to spike by up to 30 percent above average, reaching 2.75 million cubic meters a day, Hebei has been recruited to supply an extra 300 million cubic meters of “back-up” supplies.
But on Tuesday the official Hebei Daily said lack of winter rain and snow had intensified the drought, leaving some reservoirs dangerously low.
See also Guardian’s report:2.5 million lack water in China, which said,”almost two and a half million people are without sufficient drinking water because of the bad weather in the north of China.”