More than 900,000 people in northern China's Shanxi and Liaoning provinces are suffering from a drinking water shortage due to an ongoing drought, local officials said on Wednesday.

The flood control and drought relief headquarters in Shanxi said the drought caused a drinking water shortage for 670,000 people and 200,000 livestock, with the cities of Datong and Shuozhou being the worst affected.

The drought also hit crops on nearly 1 million hectares of farmland. Rivers feeding water for 31 of Shanxi's 63 large and medium-sized reservoirs have dried up, the headquarters said.

The Shanxi provincial government has invested 36.5 million yuan (US$5.3 million) in drought relief.

In Liaoning, the Water Resources Department said 234,800 people and 70,200 livestock are suffering from drinking water shortage, up from 160,000 people facing drinking water shortage two weeks ago as the drought continues.

Forty-three small reservoirs in Liaoning have dried up. Crops on more than 53,300 hectares of farmland are affected.

Residents in three villagers in Chaoyang County, Chaoyang City, have to go more than 10 km to get water.

Some areas in Liaoning have received 20 percent to 70 percent less of rainfall since June, said Wang Xuejing, spokesman for the provincial weather bureau.

More than 410,000 people have joined in drought relief work in Liaoning.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2009)