China water

China is suffering from a shortage of fresh water. The two main rivers are the Yellow (63,000 cu ft per second flow) and the Yangtze (one million cu ft per sec) are both under pressure. The Yellow has for many years been threatened with contamination from the mining of rare earth metals. This provides drinking water millions of people. More recently the Yangtze has come under stress due to an ongoing drought and water levels are so low that hydro power is threatened. Add to that the fact that China with 9% of the global crop area uses 30% of the fertilizers and herbicides all of which end up in the water supply and China is facing a serious water problem.