After numerous futile appeals for sensible water use, authorities have finally made up their minds to let money do the talking.

The Ministry of Construction announced yesterday that the government will spend more than 1 trillion yuan (US$125 billion) in the next five years on water supply, sewage treatment, water recycling, drainage and pollution control.

Furthermore, an across-the-board surcharge for sewage treatment will be incorporated into water prices.

That may not be a welcome message: The sizeable number of urban poor raises affordability concerns.

However, there appears to be no alternative, as it may well be the only way to make sure the nation's water pains are felt by everyone.

In the unchanging context of overall deficiency, China is haunted by a constant feed of bad news about droughts and floods, each and every year.

But these messages barely raise a concern among those outside disaster zones. The mammoth project to divert water from the south to the north and increasingly sophisticated artificial precipitation technologies may even give the illusion that we are strong enough to defy destiny's ire.

Technology and growing financial power is indeed changing the historical rule that people concentrate near water sources. We are actually dictating water's whereabouts to our liking.

But nothing can offset the disastrous consequences of our spendthrift mode of water use.

We cannot overlook the grim picture the Ministry of Construction painted yesterday at a press conference to coincide with World Water Week, which began on Monday in Stockholm, Sweden. The water environment in urban China is deteriorating, we were warned.

Instead of blaming it on the obvious problem of general shortage, the ministry pointed the finger at pollution, most noticeably domestic, industrial and agricultural sewage.

The real trouble is that not all the water that flows in our rivers, lakes and even underground can be used to quench our dry throats, factories and cropland.

Pollution is looming large on the horizon like an environmental cancer.

Since it is our inappropriate mode of consumption that has caused us all the trouble, this is where solutions should be found.

In Stockholm, people are discussing the benefits, cost and responsibilities surrounding water. We, too, need to put these into perspective.

Imposing a surcharge earmarked exclusively for sewage disposal, 0.8 yuan (US$0.1) a ton, sounds a lot better than a blanket rise in water price. It is important to tell everybody in explicit terms that you will pay what you deserve to pay.

Our cities are expected to enter their fastest stage of growth during the 11th Five Year Plan (2006-10). This will mean backbreaking pressures on our water systems.

It is intolerable that almost 300 cities have not yet built their own sewage treatment facilities, and that more than 50 such plants are running considerably under capacity, or simply lying idle.

If all residents pay for sewage treatment, every city must have decent infrastructure and services to justify such charges.

(China Daily August 23, 2006)