Policy makers and the Chinese public rightfully blame lax environmental controls and shoddy enforcement. But the more fundamental problem is that the country simply doesn't have enough water. Breakneck and large-scale industrialization has overwhelmed scarce supplies — and drinking water has become one of the most visible casualties.
China contains only about 7 percent of the world's fresh water while sustaining nearly 20 percent of its population. In stark contrast, Lake Michigan in the United States holds about 4 percent of the world's freshwater (the Great Lakes combined contain about 20 percent).
Despite China's limited resource base, the country's vertiginous and dense urban jungles continue to grow. More water is needed with each skyscraper added to urban China's skylines, each ton of coal burned to heat them, and each steamer of dumplings sold on their steps. And every time water is discharged from a new residential complex or power plant, it returns to the river basins a little dirtier.
China's two major rivers — the Yellow River and the Yangtze River — illustrate the problem. Both waterways traverse the country's major industrial belts as they flow from west to east. By the time the water reaches China's coastal population centers, it requires extensive treatment before it is potable.
