The groundwater under the large Tibetan cities of Lhasa and Xigaze has remained stable, the Tibetan regional environment inspection station reports. Lhasa and Xigaze, two major cities in China's Tibet autonomous region, are both dependent on groundwater.
The station said recently Lhasa in total used 56.5 million cubic meters of groundwater in 2001, one million cubic meters more than in 2000, with the average annual groundwater level dropping eight centimeters.
Xigaze used 5.77 million cubic meters of ground water, an increase of 10,000 cubic meters over 2000, with its average annual ground water level dropping six centimeters.
The station says that the quality of the groundwater has generally improved in 2001 compared to that of the previous year.
In 2002, the average groundwater levels under Lhasa and Xigaze will drop two centimeters and rise six centimeters respectively, according to the station.
(Xinhua News Agency April 23, 2002)
