In December 2021, people in Shenzhen found that water ran more slowly from their taps. The government (政府) said the city was facing its most serious water shortage (短缺) ever. Compared with northern areas, southern areas have more rain and are close to more rivers and lakes. So why are they still "thirsty"?
In big cities like Shenzhen, populations (人口) are growing fast. As a result, people and factories need more and more water. Each person in Shenzhen has less than 200 cubic meters of water each year. It's 1/12 of the country's average.
Climate change is making the water problem worse. For example, most cities in Guangdong depend on (依赖于) the Dongjiang River as their main source (来源) of water. In 2021, the river was reported to be drying up. Because of climate change, there's also less snow in the mountains of Tibet. The snow has long been the source of water for many areas in China. Those mountains might provide less water in the future.
There are other reasons for water shortages. For example, water pollution makes it harder to get clean drinking water. Factories and farms don't use water efficiently (有效地). Some cities have enough rainfall, but don't have big lakes or reservoirs to store water. The water just goes into the sea.
