One lesson drawn from the severe drought that has left Yunnan Province suffering since last autumn is that the region's water conservation projects are in poor condition and need to be upgraded as soon as possible.

Boats are seen stranding on crackled bed of the Chirui Lake in Shiping County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, March 24, 2010. The sustaining severe drought ravaged this region since last October and made no harvest of crops. [Hu Yanhui/Xinhua]

"The water shortage in Kunming is a man-made shortage caused by our low water conservation capabilities. The drought has exposed the poor water conservation facilities in Kunming," said Kunming Municipal Party Secretary Qiu He.

Luoping County, which lies in the eastern part of the province, has been hit the worst. Home to eight rivers, the average rainfall reaches 4.4 billion cubic meters each year. About 1.9 billion cubic meters of the rainfall has evaporated and surface runoff is around 2.5 billion cubic meters.

According to the Luoping Bureau of Water Resources, the county only invested 16.5 million yuan in water conservation facilities last year. This amount of money is so small that the county would only be able to repair two water diverting channels with it.

Yunnan Plateau, known as the "Asian Water Tower," is also blessed with many lakes and rivers. Kunming City, claiming to be in need of water, has an annual rainfall of nearly 1000 mm. Many other cities envy Kunming's rich water resources.

Water conservation facilities are a social good, but are not cheap and require planning. Such long-term public causes have been neglected by some short-sighted government departments.

The drought has sounded a warning bell for local residents and governments in Yunnan. But as the saying goes, "better late than never." Yunnan residents must act soon to upgrade their water conservation facilities.