Zhang Xingliang spent nine hours trying to get water from the only well that had not dried in a southwest China village, but his pail was still half empty at the end of the day.

"It's increasingly difficult to get water," said Zhang, from Xingren County in Guizhou Province.

The wheat and vegetables in his field withered weeks ago. "You don't care much about the crops when you're running out of drinking water yourself," said Zhang.

Wells, reservoirs and ponds have dried up in the drought that has plagued southwestern China for nearly six months.

"It's the worst drought I've ever seen," said Jiang Zefen, 65. "There has been no rain since October."

At least 15 million people are short of drinking water in the worst-hit regions of Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi and Chongqing, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters based in Beijing.

In Yunnan Province alone, the worst drought in six decades has left 6 million people short of drinking water, the local government said Wednesday.

At a primary school in Guangnan County, 5,500 students and teachers rely on four water wagons that transport 20 tonnes of water a day.

"There's been no tap water since October," said Guo Kaihui, a teenage girl who was waiting in a queue with a basin and pail.

The government sent a team of 70 workers Wednesday to pump underground water for the drought-hit areas, hoping to fully exploit the underground water resources, said He Zixing, an official in charge of the provincial land and resources bureau.

The central weather bureau has forecast little rain in western China in March, and warned the drought is likely to continue for some time.

"The drought will continue in the southwest and northwest," said Chen Zhenlin, an official in charge of disaster relief at China Meteorological Administration (CMA) in Beijing.

He said the CMA has earmarked 2 million yuan to artificially make rain or snow in the drought-hit areas.

The drought has affected nearly half the country, causing an arid stretch throughout northern, western and southern China.

In Chongqing Municipality, drought has caused water shortages for 480,000 people and threatened 166,000 hectares of cropland.

The water level of the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway, has also dropped to a new low in Chongqing. In some sections, ships are stranded and water traffic has ceased.

In the northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, 118,000 people and 440,000 head of cattle are suffering water shortages, the local water resources bureau said Thursday.

The neighboring Gansu Province created artificial snow Tuesday and Wednesday in the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture to help keep the pastures alive.

The snow, however, would do little to ease the drought long term, said Wang Jianbing, a weatherman in Gannan, one of the most arid areas in Gansu Province.

The local climate center has warned the drought would worsen as temperatures climb during spring.

(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2010)