Xinhua Insight: Severe drought parches 'water-bound' south China

CHANGSHA/NANCHANG, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, known for their rivers and lakes, are often portrayed as lands abundant with rice and fish.

However, even they have not been spared by a drought that has plagued a wide swathe of south and east China since August, usually part of the rainy season.

The drought has damaged crops and left 2 million people suffering water shortages and thousands of boats grounded on the shallow rivers or cracked riverbeds.

EXTREME WEATHER

The provinces, which often see devastating floods in summer, grabbed media headlines this month as the drought worsened.

Hunan received 60 percent less rain than normal in August and September. Jiangxi received 60 percent less in September and 90 percent in October.

The drought was worsened by unusually high temperatures. The average temperature in Jiangxi was 2.5 degrees Celsius higher than average, and the highest since 1963.

The Xiangjiang and Ganjiang rivers, two major tributaries of the Yangtze River running through the provinces, are reporting record low water levels.

The water flow in the Xiangjiang River is down to about 500 cubic meters per second, compared to 1,200 cubic meters per second, which is the average for the time of year.

Water levels in Poyang Lake in Jiangxi and Dongting Lake in Hunan, the country's two largest fresh-water lakes, are also at record lows.

　　THIRSTY

As a result, millions of residents living along the main tributaries of Yangtze, the country's largest river, and around the lakes, are suffering from water shortages.

Huangjia village, in Jiangxi's Fengxin County, is among the hardest hit. Villagers have no other water sources and water is being rationed out by the local government.

"I haven't washed my clothes for half a month," said Shuai Yimei, an elderly woman.

"Because there's been no rain for such a long time, the wells in our village have all dried up," she said. "We don't have water for drinking, let alone washing clothes."

The Fengxin county government started delivering water to more than 18,000 residents in 70 villages on Sept. 8.

"Some villagers wash their faces with the same water twice -- in the morning and evening. They keep the water for washing their feet and feeding pigs," said Zhai Shisi, a deputy county governor.

"It's almost inconceivable in the water-bound south China regions."

Farmers in Fengxin have also built dams to store water for irrigation to alleviate the impact of the spreading drought on agriculture.