Severe drought drains rivers in south China

A lingering drought has dried up most of rivers in the southern Chinese county of Tianlin in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local authorities said Sunday.

The county, which had suffered from severe drought over the past three years, has experienced high temperature and little rainfall over the past three months this year, said Huang Rongbiao, head of the Tianlin County.

Of the total 214 rivers in the county, 200 have been drained, Huang said.

The drought has left more than 23,000 residents and 12,000 heads of livestock in the county without adequate drinking water supply, he said.

The drought has also withered more than 10,000 hectares of cropland, he said.

Local authorities have earmarked over 1 million yuan (160,000 U.S. dollars) as a special fund to combat the drought, he added.

Lu Jianzhen, director of the Tianhe Water Resources Bureau, said the Qiwenhe Reservoir, the drinking water source for the county, had seen its water level drop by a half.

"If there is still no rainfall, the reservoir could only provide 40 days of water for the county," he said.