and detrimental impact on the environment of China. As MacBean relates of China: "Its resources including water have been dramatically consumed," while increased pollution threatens remaining water resources.[2] Before the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2010, Chinese officials spent billions of dollars trying to reduce pollution levels in the nation's capital. Many cities and rivers in China are among the most polluted in the world.
Today, water pollution and shortages seriously threaten many areas. As reported by China Daily, "Intense demand by booming Chinese industries, farms and sprawling cities - some of them with 10 million people - has left many areas without adequate water supplies."[3] Not only do severe water shortages threaten many Chinese cities, but water pollution is significantly increasing because of unchecked development practices. This analysis will discuss the environmental problems of water quality degradation and pollution in China. Measures adopted by the government to respond to this worsening challenge over the past few decades will be addressed. A conclusion will offer some recommended solutions for environmental governance in China.
The unprecedented industrialization and development occurring in China have led to enormous growth and a robust economy that may witness China's ascension to global economic leader. However, in a country where water supplies are already inadequate to support the nation's more than 1.3 billion inhabitants, development is not only using more water but it is also responsible for significant water pollution.[4] Chinese Deputy Minister of Construction, Qiu Baoxing, explains that more than 100 of China's 660 cities are confronted by "extreme water shortages," and that "Limited water resources are threatened by pollution."[5] Because of pollution from unchecked development and purposeful polluting, the water safety in many cities is threatened.
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