Before we run dry

Quotas for water use will be applied on a trial basis starting tomorrow in Guangdong Province. That means enterprises, agricultural production, public service and urban residents will have quotas restricting water use during the trial period over the next two years.

This southern province becomes the first locality in the country to use quotas to raise awareness of the importance of saving water and to determine the most efficient ways to conserve its limited water resources.

Guangdong's move is exemplary for the rest of the country since water shortages have increasingly strained economic development and social progress in both cities and rural areas.