Water, Water Nowhere: Beijing One of the World's Most Water Scarce Cities

Beijing faces an annual shortfall of 1.5 billion cubic meters of water – and that's while already having 40 times less than the world's average water supply, according to a CCTV report.

Beijingers use about 3.6 billion cubic meters of water per year, but local resources are able to provide only about 2.1 billion, according to the Beijing Water Authority. Moreover, Beijing's 21 million people only have access to about 100 cubic meters per person, which is one-tenth of the international standard of 1,000 cubic meters per person. 

The lack of rain this summer – traditionally Beijing's wettest season – and an almost snowless winter has heightened and highlighted the stresses on Beijing's water supply. The South-North Water Transfer Project has begun bringing 44 billion cubic meters of water annually from southern China, where flooding is a problem, to the north, where scarcity has always been a problem. Whether that will be enough to keep Beijing wet remains to be seen.

Drinking Houhai has not yet been considered as an option. Thankfully.

Photo: Beijing Holidays