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Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/cnforbiddennews Like us on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/chinaforbiddennews Recently, overseas media revealed that China is facing a serious problem. This problem is bigger than the slowdown in the growth of manufacturing or the housing-price bubble. It is the problem of water, and it's a potential catastrophe that could affect the rest of Asia, and the wider world. What is the cause of China's water crisis? How serious is it? Why is the water crisis linked with the economic crisis? Let's take a look. On July 31, the Wall Street Journal published an article. It cited Elizabeth Economy, Director of Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. In a testimony to the US Senate last week, she said that China is facing a water crisis. This crisis may be a health crisis in China, and cause outright conflict with its neighbors. Elizabeth Economy highlighted that the key culprit is industry. It uses 4 to 10 more water per unit of GDP compared with similar economies. It is also polluting the nation's existing water resources at an alarming rate. She cited a February 2013 report by the Geological Survey of China. It stated that 90% of the country's groundwater was polluted. The water from about 25% of China's major river systems were so filthy that it couldn't be even used for industry, nor for agriculture. She cited China's own water-resource officials. They stated that over 400 Chinese cities lacked enough water last year. 110 of those were facing "serious scarcity" of water. Fan Xiao, Geological expert: "Water shortages are partly caused by pollution. This leads to insufficient drinkable water. The model for water resource development also caused problems. This is especially after 1949, where the basic policy was to purchase water according to requirement. China had launched many of these projects, which still continues now." The water is a limited natural resource and is not provided according to people's needs. A large number of projects can make GDP look good on the surface. However, the consumption of human resources and materials, as well as ecological damage cannot be ignored. Construction of an upstream reservoir causes downstream drought and severe shortages of water. This results in a mass death of fish. Fan Xiao comments that the current methods of the South North Water Transfer Project can't solve the problem. This is regardless of how may projects are launched. We need to create a society that conserves water according to resources and builds industry to environmental conditions. Regarding education on developing water-saving technology and guidance of policies, results won't be seen instantly. It won't directly affect GDP, but it helps to sustain the use of water resources. Fan Xiao: "The authorities didn't consider the capacity of water resources. Nor did they consider the environmental conditions. During development of urban, industrial and other projects, they only considered quick interest gains. It will affect the entire society and the public. In addition, great amounts of fertilizer and pesticides are used, without considering ecology or green agriculture." The city's sewage treatment is equally important. To blindly develop urbanization will deeply worsen the problem of water resources. Elizabeth Economy states in the testimony to the US Senate that China's tap water is mostly undrinkable. Those who do drink it run major health risks. Contamination is making its way into the food chain, resulting in cadmium-tainted rice, as well as other threats. She comments that China controls the headwaters of many of Asia's most important rivers. This includes the Irtyush, Mekong, and Brahmaputra. This is raising regional tensions, as China develops plans upstream that may have dramatic impacts on the lower reaches. Fan Xiao: "Coastal pollution is a problem, especially in some international rivers, like the Brahmaputra River, Lancang River and Nujiang River. Environmental issues within the territory of China that haven't been taken care of will certainly affect areas further down river. Western regions of China are engaging in economic hydropower development. All the natural rivers were turned into manmade reservoirs. It affects the ecological environment