Political Crisps: Water shortage in China

Dongjiang River, which supplies more than 90 percent of the water consumed in Shenzhen, is facing its most severe drought since 1963. Exacerbated by La Nina, it is estimated that China's "Tech Hub", Shenzhen, faces a daily shortage of 1 million cubic meters of water. Water shortage is not a recent problem that China is grappling with and its implications are far-reaching. 

China has introduced "Sponge Cities'' solutions to alleviate water shortages. Rather than drain rainwater away, these cities aim to retain, store, purify and reuse rainwater. Additionally, due to the depletion of groundwater in the northern regions, China has also ambitiously rerouted water from the South.

However, increasing domestic consumption and climate change have complicated China’s pathway towards water self-sufficiency. Beijing is "water-stressed" with an approximate per-capita water volume of 150 cubic meters, which is way below the 1700 cubic meters per-capita threshold set by the UN. Intense rainfall, rising urban density pose challenges to the resilience of Sponge Cities while the rerouting of water would deteriorate water quality and stoke public discontent. Water remains a key resource constraint for China and an incentive to exert greater control over regional water resources in the South China Sea.