Groundwater levels in north still dropping

With North China facing a water shortage, the central government is carrying out measures to conserve underground water, especially in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, according to a recent guideline issued by four ministries.

More water from the Yellow River and the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project will be directed to North China to help address the area's water scarcity, according to the guideline.

Research by the Chinese Academy of Sciences last April shows that from 2002 to 2014, about 6 billion to 8 billion metric tons of groundwater was lost annually in North China, a trend it expected to continue.