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Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom
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problem. But the government later built 541 other reservoirs along the river! Five large
reservoirs were also built along the Chaobai. Foreign experts calculate that diversion from
a water course should be no more than 15 per cent of its total volume. Some Chinese
experts calculate 40 per cent. Exploitation of the Yongding and Chaobai Rivers has far
exceeded 100 per cent of annual volumes. Instead of supplying Beijing, they have been
diverted to supplying upstream reservoirs, so creating a serious water shortage for Beijing.
The more numerous the reservoirs are, the greater are losses through evaporation. If
each of the 542 upstream reservoirs is responsible for just a .3 per cent increased
evaporation loss of the Yongding’s total water flow, that alone explains 80 per cent of its
reduction in volume. The water shortages in Beijing’s neighboring provinces of Tianjin and
Hebei are also attributable to that overuse of water resources.
So why really did the Chinese government urgently transfer 1.6 billion cubic meters of
water to Beijing? Was it to guarantee that Beijing would have enough water to drink
during the Games? Just a small fraction of Beijing’s water is for drinking. And foreign
athletes in Beijing will not be drinking faucet water. They will probably bring their own
water, as, for instance, the German women’s soccer football team.
The Chinese government’s real reason for the urgent transfer of so much water to Beijing
is to hold “green” Olympics. As noted earlier, the River Yongding has shrunk every year.
The river bed inside the capital’s city limits has been dry for more than 30 years. Water
from neighboring regions will be used to clean the polluted river bed. Then, using dikes
made of oak bark, ponds will be created to give the Games a “greener” ambience. A
number other streams, like the Juma, and various of the capital’s lakes need to have their
waters replaced to give them a clean aspect. Because of the worrisome lowering of
underground water, giant funnels have formed. To be sure that stream beds like the
Yongding are filled during the Games, enormous quantities of water will be needed since a
great deal of it is likely to seep underground. Beijing has also built a large number of new
basins and fountains. The best-known basin, needing the greatest amount of water, is in
front of the National Opera. The amount of water needed for those basins is considerable.
Beijing also needs water to clean its dusty streets, soiled in this year’s sandstorms.
The Chinese capital’s water shortage is mainly due to inconsiderate use of available
supplies. If such policies continue, Beijing’s water situation is likely to deteriorate, and it
might inevitably become necessary to move the capital. Then, all of China’s investments
for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games would have gone for naught.
What is the Beijing that China wants to show the world as athletes gather there from all
over in August 2008? They should be allowed to see the true face of Beijing and of China.
Because of massive overuse of water resources, the River Yongding was dried up, the
River Chaobai was shrunk, Beijing’s water was polluted. Allowing people to see such
realities is not a dishonor. The Chinese government could then change its policies and
start restoring Beijing’s ecology – reviving its rivers, cleaning up the water pollution and
dealing with the environment on scientific lines. If the Chinese government had started to
restore the rivers in the 1980s, then more than 20 years of effort would have avoided the
current annual shortage of a billion cubic meters of water. Better late than never.