Beijing will develop two more local water wells in its suburbs this year to ensure the growing population and industry get enough water to keep the economy humming.  

However, experts warn against over exploitation of groundwater resources and suggest the city draw up a long-term plan to replenish water resources by making use of floods and torrential rain.

According to sources with the Beijing Municipal Water Resources Bureau, a project to develop groundwater resources at Zhangfang on Beijing's southeastern outskirts will be completed this May. Meanwhile, another similar project at Pinggu in northeastern suburbs will be finished in July.

The two projects are expected to provide 170 million cubic meters of water every year.

Beijing developed new water sources in the northern suburbs of Huairou last September from where the city draws 330,000 cubic meters of water every day.

The water resources bureau said the city plans to build five such water wells, with a total supply capacity of 400 million cubic meters per year.

Beijing has been facing a severe water shortage, a situation which has deteriorated with five consecutive years of drought since 1999.

Zhang Shouquan, a senior water expert with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the water reserves at Huairou, Zhangfang and Pinggu are all groundwater resources. If the groundwater cannot be replenished in time, the successive pumping may cause the ground to sink.

Zhang said the rainfall during Beijing's high-water season between June and September accounts for 85 per cent of the total precipitation in a year. However, millions of cubic meters of flood and heavy rain usually run off rather than seep into the ground.

He suggested drawing up a plan to retain flood and torrential rain.

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2004)