Beijing's groundwater table is likely to rise for a second year in 2017 thanks to increased rainfall, curbs on excessive groundwater use and increased water diverted from the country's south.
As of the end of 2016, the groundwater table in the Chinese capital was 25.23 meters deep, 0.52 meters higher than a year ago, said Hu Bo, an official with the Beijing Water Authority.
"It's good news that the groundwater table is rising," he said. "The city has made efforts and the weather has also helped."
"The groundwater table is likely to continue to rise this year as a result of expected increased rainfall and other efforts," said Huang Zhenfang, chief engineer with the Beijing Hydrologic Station.
Fast economic growth and rapid increase in population had decreased the groundwater table in Beijing from 7.24 meters deep in 1980 down to 25.75 meters deep in 2015.
Huang said the city's total precipitation for 2016 was 660 mm, 13 percent higher than the average level between 1956 and 1999.
The south-to-north water diversion project also helped relieve water shortages, with more than 30 million cubic meters of diverted water added to groundwater in 2015 and 2016, said Huang.
Conservation efforts helped reduce water use for agriculture by 40 million cubic meters last year, Huang said, adding that groundwater use dropped by 70 million cubic meters.
Currently, more than 70 percent of the tap water in Beijing's main urban areas comes from the Yangtze River, thanks to the south-to-north water diversion project.
By early June, Beijing had received around 2.28 billion cubic meters of Yangtze water since the project began pumping water into the city in December 2014, according to the Beijing Waterworks Group.
"The rise of the groundwater table only offers a respite," said Huang. Beijing's groundwater storage is currently 10.2 billion cubic meters less than it was in the early 1980s, the engineer said.
The city still faces water supply pressures with some rivers running dry. The per capita water resources are only 161 cubic meters, far lower than the 500 cubic meters, which represents an acute water shortage by the United Nations standards.
Zhang Tong, vice president of Beijing Institute of Water, said the city still needs to conserve water by reducing groundwater use and using diverted water to increase groundwater storage.
Beijing has set a target to reduce groundwater use by 400 million cubic meters annually by 2020.
By 2020, Beijing's water consumption is expected to rise to 4.3 billion cubic meters, putting huge pressure on its limited water resources.
The city's annual water resources averaged only 2.1 billion cubic meters over the past decade. The gap has been filled by groundwater, recycled water and water diverted from other regions.
The city plans to increase the use of recycled water to 1.2 billion cubic meters in 2020.
