Water Shortage In China

Introduction
Water shortage and water pollution is an urgent crisis in China and is the cause of millions of deaths each year. According to Chinadialogue “(…) water pollution poses a bigger health threat to about 300 million people living in rural areas, and many of them are vulnerable and disadvantaged” (Lin, 2014). This essay addresses water management issues in rural China and suggests more investments should be made in local water management. First, to assess why China should invest more in local water management, research on existing local water management in China has to be included. For a complete insight into China’s water management projects, macro infrastructural-focused solution will also be included. The South-North Water Diversion

Many scholars and experts argue that investments in South-North Water Diversion Project is only a temporary unsustainable solution to solve water shortage (Barnett, Rogers, Webber, Finlayson & Wang, 2015) and it will not solve the problem in the long run. In addition, weak local water management and ongoing water pollution in rural areas will further exacerbate current water stress. Thus, the Minister of Water Resources (MWR) Chen Lei wants to include improving rural drinking water quality in China’s 13th Five Year Plan. However, only few studies have been conducted to address the water issue in China’s rural areas. A previous study about China’s rural water management concluded that very little attention has been given to water management in broader rural China (Yu, Geng, Heck & Xue, 2015). Information about current water pollution status and water supply quality in rural China is still limited, but official information has shown that water quality is poor (Liu, 2015). For example, an article reported that in late April 2014 that 300,000 people were cut off from their water supply due to excessive levels of nitrogen and ammonia that was found in Wuhan’s major water source, the Hanjiang river (Lin, 2014). Therefore, it is important

A lack of attention to water conservation and protection as well as a lack of awareness about the significant role of water management in China’s economic and social development has led to ineffective and poor water management throughout the years (Global water partnership, 2015). In addition, poor quality water monitoring and water administration in rural China are also key issues that the Chinese government are trying to solve (Global water partnership, 2015. However, to treat domestic wastewater in rural areas is a major challenge. According to a study about China’s rural water management (Yu, et. al., 2015), a lack of sewage piping systems has forced sewage from private toilets to be discharged into local water bodies, posing the local ecosystem to serious health risk and environmental risk. In addition, waste water from rural livestock and fish farms have a higher pollutant concentration. The study reported that pollution is mainly from domestic sewage, industrial waste water and the use of fertilisers and pesticides. Chinese farmers had to use polluted water or even sewage water for irrigation, which have become an effective measure to address water shortages. However, the use of polluted water leads to contaminants into soils, which in turn, leads to the reduction of agricultural productivity and lower quality of agricultural products (Yu, et. al.,