CHENGDU -- More than five million people are now short of drinking water in China's southwestern province of Sichuan as a result of a worsening drought, local government sources said on Friday.

Water shortages have affected 5.5 million people, 6.3 million livestock and 560,000 hectares of crop land across the province, said Governor Jiang Jufeng at an emergency drought relief meeting.

The drought has caused a direct economic loss of nearly 300 million yuan (US$38 million), Jiang said.

In the worst-hit areas, residents are having their drinking water delivered to them by government trucks.

Most of the province received less than 5 millimeters of rainfall in February.

Water conservation facilities in the province are only storing 5.8 billion cubic meters, down 1.7 billion cubic meters from normal years.

Governments of the province have earmarked 300 million yuan to help residents deal with drinking water shortages and irrigation of farmland.

Weather forecasts show that the province will see no significant rainfall before the end of March.

Drought is also affecting other Chinese provinces like Guizhou, Hainan, and northeastern Liaoning, causing water shortages for millions of people.