Beijing to limit water use by golf courses, ski resorts

Beijing officials are considering restricting water use by bathhouses, golf courses and ski resorts in order to conserve water in the arid Chinese capital.

An amended guideline on water conservation, expected to be passed in April, will be the most stringent of its kind for a Chinese city, said He Jianping, a deputy director from the Beijing Water Authority.

He said the venues will be given quotas and have their water fees raised, a move intended to force some luxury-oriented businesses out of the city, a spokesman from the authority said.

The new guideline will also create stricter restrictions for industrial water users and social institutions. Beijing households will be rewarded if they report their efforts to conserve water to authorities, the spokesman said.

The guideline is the latest initiative taken by Beijing, a metropolis of over 20 million people and a major water consumer in China's drought-prone north, to restrict wasteful water use. In 2011, the city suspended the approval of new luxury bathhouses over water conservation concerns.