Businesses seen as wasteful of the resource will be frowned upon

The city is set to launch new regulations aimed at mopping up waste of the capital's water, according to an official from the Beijing Water Authority (BWA) on Monday.

"The overall usage of water in each district will be strictly controlled and the quota that is allocated to every enterprise will also be controlled and closely overseen in the future," said Yang Jinhuai, vice-director of the BWA.

Yang was speaking at a press conference during the ongoing fourth session of the 13th Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

The city is also planning to say no to any proposals for new golf courses, bathing houses, ski facilities and businesses with a strong need for water, according to Beijing Daily. In future, carwash facilities within the Fifth Ring Road will be required to use recycled water.

Yang said the city is still working out the details and feasibility of the plan.

Along with Shanghai, Tianjin and four provinces, Beijing has been listed as one of seven pilot locations around the country that will pioneer new ways to better manage water resources, according to Bi Xiaogang, the BWA's spokesperson.

According to the BWA's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), the authority will increase the efficiency of the provision of recycled water. By 2015, the consumption of recycled water is expected to reach 1 billion cubic meters a year.

Beijing has been faced with 11 consecutive years of drought, and the situation this year has made things even worse with the winter being unusually dry.

At the same time, the capital's reserves of groundwater have been drying up because of decreased rainfall and over-extraction.

The city's water consumption last year reached 3.57 billion cubic meters, according to Yang.

Beijing imports nearly 2 billion cu m from Hebei and other places to meet demand in the capital, even though those suppliers are also plagued by water shortages of their own.

Water from the Yangtze River will be carried via the South-North Water Diversion Project will be completed, to the capital. That project was originally meant to be complete last year but the end date was put back and it is now expected to be finished by 2014.

Yang did not say whether the cost of water is likely to rise in future but he did admit that the cost to the water authority of accessing it is increasing.

Wu Shoulun, a deputy to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, said the water shortage has become a primary obstacle to the city's economic development.

Both the government and average citizens should be aware of water conservation, Wu said.

"Beijing has to go through a harsh period before 2014 when the South-North Water Diversion Project will be completed," he said.