Beijing Water Resource Bureau announced on Monday that the capital would receive water from Cetian Reservoir in Shanxi Province from 10 AM that day, and that Yunzhou, Huliuhe and Friendship reservoirs in Hebei Province would also divert supplies to the city from Wednesday.

According to the bureau, the more than 95 million cubic meters of freshwater diverted to Beijing's Guanting and Baihebao reservoirs would help ease its water shortages, in the third such water diversion program from Shanxi and Hebei since 2003.

Zhang Shouquan, the bureau's vice director, said measures have also been taken to save water, such as encouraging the use of recycled water in watering plants, flowers and cleaning cars.

However, he said average rainfall in some parts of central Beijing and its Guanting and Miyun reservoirs had fallen 25 percent year-on-year, and the problem of shortages remained serious.  

Cetian would contribute 60 million cubic meters of water to Guanting through a 185-kilometer diversion channel over 16 days.

Huliuhe would contribute 13 million cubic meters over 23 days via an 80-kilometer channel.

About 10 million cubic meters are expected to reach Guanting from Friendship after a 200 kilometer journey over five or seven days.

Another 12 million cubic meters are to be diverted 75 kilometers to Baihebao from Yunzhou over 12 days.

The whole program is scheduled to end in the middle of November.

Beijing's neighboring provinces are due to provide additional supplies every year until 2008.

(China.org.cn by Wu Nanlan October 19, 2005)