The Beijing Olympics are putting a strain on already-tight water supplies, says a new report from NGO Probe International. Preparations for the Games have sucked up 52 billion gallons of water above normal consumption this year, in a city that already consumes more water than is naturally supplied. Beijing’s two main reservoirs are at less than 10 percent of capacity, and, not helping matters, rainfall in the past decade has been 28 percent lower than the historical average. The anonymous Chinese researchers who contributed to the report suggest better regulation of the water industry and higher prices to encourage conservation by Beijing’s burgeoning population. But so far, officials have focused on digging deeper for groundwater and diverting water from agriculture in surrounding provinces. Such short-term solutions, says the report, are akin to “trying to quench thirst by drinking poison.”
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