NANCHANG/CHANGSHA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- "Tap water at my home has stopped flowing for one month and I have to fetch water from my neighbor on the first floor every evening," said Wei Weiguo, a resident in Dongxiang county of east China's Jiangxi Province.
Wei lives on the fourth floor of a residential building of the county seat, where water has become a top concern for 100,000 local residents due to a severe drought plaguing the area.
Residents in Dongxiang are supplied with water only between 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Those who live on the fourth floor or higher have had to use buckets to fetch water from the first floor for more than 30 days.
One of the only two reservoirs on which the county residents rely has stopped supplying water. One water factory for the countryseat has stopped operation.
"The Foling reservoir has only 400,000 cubic meters of water left, less than one tenth of its normal storage volume," said Li Xiangrong, deputy general manger of Dongxiang County Tap Water Company. "The water quality also becomes so bad that it is no longer usable."
The other one, Xingfu reservoir, now has 3.8 million cubic meters of water for use, only 15 percent of its normal storage.
"The water level of Xingfu reservoir is currently three meters below the water-taking pipes," said Li. "We must use pumps to get water from it."
Navigation was almost at a standstill in all lakes and rivers inside Jiangxi, the provincial navigation bureau said.
The water surface of Poyang Lake in Jiangxi, the country's largest freshwater lake, has shrunk to less than 50 square km from3,000 square km in flood season, the Jiangxi Hydrological Bureau said.
The lake's water level at the Xingzi hydrological station was 7.5 meters on Friday, close to the historic low of 7.11 meters.
Across Jiangxi, about 300,000 urban residents and 100,000 rural people are facing severe water shortages, according to the provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
Water for industrial use in Dongxiang and Le'an counties has almost been cut off to ensure domestic use for residents, local governments said.
Drinking water shortage is also affecting about 83,000 people and 40,000 heads of livestock in neighboring Hunan Province.
In the past 80 days since mid-September, the province only had an average rainfall of 49.3 mm and in some counties it was even less than 10 mm, according to the Hunan provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.
"This year, Hunan suffered drought both in summer and autumn," said Xiao Kuntao, an official with the headquarters. "The sustained drought has caused all-time lows in the water level of the Xiangjiang river."
The Xiangjiang is a major river in the province, and low water level in the past two months has caused many vessels to run aground.
"Normally, this route only takes four days, but this time we have not arrived at our destination after 50 days," said Guo Hongwei, a crew member of a coal-loaded ship stranded at the Xiangjiang's Majiahe section.
Guo said given the low water level, the ship, with a loading capacity of 2,000 tons, only carried 100 tons of coal from Hengyang to Yueyang this time. But it still ran aground unexpectedly.
At the Majiahe section, 60 ships carrying wood, iron ore and coal ran aground.
"I have been involved with water transport for nearly 20 years, but it is the first time I've been stranded for such a long time," said Hu Pengyu, a ship owner.
Chen Jiang, deputy director of Hunan Navigation Bureau, said the water level at Zhuzhou and Changsha stretches of the Xiangjiang river were all below the level required for navigation. The 1,000-ton channel has become a 100-ton one.
The whole water transport volume was reduced by more than 20 million tons due to the drought, Chen estimated.
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said Friday that 20.44 million urbanites, 27.56 million rural people and 20.6 million heads of livestock suffered limited supply of drinking water across the country.
