China has taken another legal step forward by introducing its newly revised Water Law, which becomes effective on October 1, to ease water-based problems such as a shortage of resources.

Wang Shucheng, minister of water resources, said Friday it was vital to focus on tackling the problems of water shortages and water pollution to ensure sustainable economic and social development.

China, with a grave shortage of water resources, has a gross volume of 2.8 trillion cubic meters of water, and its per capita share is about 2,200 cubic meters, only one quarter of the world's per-capita availability.

Of China's 668 cities, more than 400 suffer water shortages. And about half of the country's rivers, 90 percent of urban water areas, are polluted to varying extent.

Experts say problems such as water shortages, the frequent incidence of natural adversities and the worsening environment have become major factors restricting China's social and economic sustainable development.

The revised Water Law, which sums up experiences and lessons learned since the Water Law was first implemented 14 years ago, stipulates the setting up of a pricing system to improve water consumption efficiency.

Under the revised law, consumption will be charged according to normal pricing if it falls within a pre-set quota but if the quota is exceeded, high penalty fees will be charged. The practice has been carried out in some north China cities where a lack of water has become critical.

The revised law tells local governments to work tirelessly to promote the use of water efficient technologies in both agriculture and industry. Tremendous efforts should be made to promote efficient water equipment for urbanites and recycling water should also be encouraged.

As compared with 14 years ago when the Water Law was first put into practice, China's use of recycled water for industrial purpose has improved from 25 percent to 50 percent, and the rate for agricultural use has also been up between 30 percent and 40 percent. But the country's average annual water consumption has been increasing at a rate of 1.4 percent.

However, much should still be done to improve the utilization rate of water, experts say.

Water pollution has aggravated China's shortage situation. The revised law stipulates that a system has to be set up to protect drinking water sources.

To cope with the situation, governments at the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal levels should strive to protect designated sources of drinking water. The law says they should take effective steps to prevent both water resources drying up and water pollution in order to protect the safety of drinking water for rural and urban residents.

(Xinhua News Agency September 7, 2002)