Record rainfall replenishes Beijing water supplies

BEIJING - The heaviest downpour to hit Beijing in 61 years has refilled the city's reservoirs over the weekend, ending a 13-year drought.

Pan Anjun, deputy head of the municipal flood control and drought relief headquarters, said Sunday that the storm added 53 million cubic meters of water to 17 mid- and large-sized reservoirs that had been plagued by drought for 13 consecutive years.

Pan said water levels on all of the city's waterways are currently seeing record highs.

The Miyu Reservoir, the largest in Beijing, had 1.15 billion cubic meters of water as of Monday morning, the municipal water affairs bureau said.

Beijing's rapid economic development and expanding population have exacerbated effects of the 13-year water shortage.

Available per capita water usage in Beijing has dropped to 100 cubic meters, about one-tenth of the internationally-recognized warning level.

Municipal water authorities forecast in April that the city is expected to face a water shortage of 1.3 billion cubic meters this year, or about a third of the city's annual water usage.

To fight water scarcity, the city diverts water from nine water sources, including reservoirs in the city's outskirts and nearby provinces of Hebei and Shanxi.

The death toll for the weekend's rainstorm had reached 37 as of Monday morning. More than 50,000 people were evacuated from their homes.