Massive water diversion project poses environmental dilemma(4)

So far, the reservoir's nitrogen levels remain at about 1.2 milligrams per liter, 1.3 times higher than the acceptable standard, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. To further complicate matters, the water quality of the Shendinghe, Jianghe, Sihe and Jianhe rivers, which all flow into the reservoir in Hubei, is below Grade V.

China grades water quality according to six levels: Grade I to Grade V and "inferior to Grade V," the worst grade. Water below Grade III is undrinkable, and that below Grade V is the most polluted.

Experts said that with most factories shut down, farming is the only means of livelihood for a great many rural residents in the vicinity of the reservoir, with widespread use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers leading to residue problems.

"We tried to bring in some non-polluting IT firms but, situated in this rural backwater, one of them had to leave because they could not hire enough technicians," said Wu Lianggang, deputy director of the economic bureau of Danjiangkou City.

Local officials in the three provinces also told Xinhua that the newly-built pollution control facilities are not fully used because operation costs are too high. Sewage and garbage are directly discharged into the reservoir in some counties that lack treatment capacity.

Wang Xing, chief of the development and reform bureau of Danjiangkou City, said the sewage treatment plant in the city center costs 10 million yuan a year, more than three times its earnings, and maintaining its operation adds to the city government's financial burden.

"Of the 13 towns in the city, only one has a sewage treatment plant. What's worse, it treats, at most, 75 percent of the wastewater because it can't make ends meet," he said.