Fifty-nine of one hundred and sixty-seven cities in the Yangtze River drainage basin suffer from water shortage to varying degrees, twenty-six of which are even plagued by a severe lack of water.

Yangtze River drainage basin is rich in water resources, with an annual water runoff of more than 980 billion cubic meters, which is 37% of all the water runoff of the country. Despite the dense population here, average runoff per capita is 2,400 cubic meters every year, higher than the national average of 2,100 cubic meters.

Though the water resources are rich here, the problems of water pollution and extravagant using of water still cause severe water shortage. Now water has become the key problem in the development of these cities.

Shanghai and Wuxi are suffering from the lack of good-quality water. In Shanghai, less than 1% of all its ground water is drinkable. Eutrophication of Taihu Lake has also made most of ground water in Wuxi useless. As a matter of fact, pollution has wasted most of the ground water in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
 
(Chinanews.cn August 9, 2006)