From Shanghai Daily (link):
China’s rapid economic development and its increasing thirst for water has dried up most of the tributaries on a key river that winds through 26 large and medium-sized cities, a water conservation agency reported yesterday.
The Haihe River valley, with an area of 320,000 square kilometers, covers Beijing and Tianjin municipalities and the provinces and regions of Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan and Inner Mongolia.
The area is suffering from a shortage of water resources, with per capita water availability of less than 293 cubic meters, which is far less than the world shortage standard of 1,000 cubic meters, committee officials said.