Half of top 10 Chinese water systems polluted: report  

中国水安全问题调查：全国十大水系水质一半受污染

记者近期深入全国多个省市调研后了解到，伴随人口增加、经济发展和城市化进程加快，水资源短缺、水环境污染、水生态受损情况触目惊心，水安全正在成为新时期经济社会发展的基础性、全局性和战略性问题[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- With combined pressures from rising water demand and limited supplies, alongside severe water pollution, China is facing a mounting challenge in supplying safe, clean water to its 1.3 billion residents, as well as maintaining sustainable development, an investigative report of Xinhua News Agency said on Wednesday.

Around 50 percent of the country's top 10 water systems were found to be polluted in 2013 while 17 out of China's 31 major freshwater lakes are suffering "slight" or "moderate" pollution levels, the report stated.

Water quality offshore is no better, with 18.6 percent reaching class IV, the level next to 'worst.'

Of 4,778 monitoring sites for groundwater, almost 60 percent was found to be "bad" or "very bad", the report added.

China is also experiencing a water deficit reaching more than 50 billion cubic meters annually in terms of consumption, said Chen Ming, an official with the Ministry of Water Resources.

More than 300 of China's 667 cities are reportedly short of water, the report said.

The combined pressures of rising water demand over limited supplies and deteriorating water quality from widespread pollution, suggests that a severe water scarcity crisis is emerging, according to the World Bank.

President of Hubei university of Economics Lv Zhongmei, who has extensively researched environmental laws for more than 30 years, thinks water challenges are as severe as air pollution.

The report blamed some local governments and enterprises with the reckless pursuit of quick money by developing projects with high resource consumption and serious pollution.

Wang Jinnan, deputy head of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning under the environmental ministry, said steel, coal, chemical and paper industrials are influencing the Haihe river area where there is a severe water shortage.

On the same day, China published an action plan promising to protect the country's 365 lakes from pollution between 2013 and 2020.