Guangdong Province in southern China has arranged 10 million yuan for the exploitation and evaluation of the underground water at the emergency water source around the Pearl River Delta.

The program is aimed at solving the conflict between rapidly increasing water demands due to economic development, urbanization, population growth and water pollution and the finite water sources.

The province will build up some eight emergency groundwater reserves, six standby wells and a database of groundwater resource in this program.

All these will help to form a strategic emergency water supply system with abundant untapped groundwater resource, preventing possible outbursts of industrial water contamination and salt tide for the economic zone of Pearl River delta, one of the fastest growing economic regions in China.

The project will also provide hydrological references for city planning, water supply policymaking and management, as well as information to the public.

(CRIENGLISH.com February 21, 2008)